Turtle Tot Trouble
by BurnThoseEyesBlue
Summary: When an accident leads to big (or should we say small?) consequences, what else are the boys to do but do what they do best? Be the best BIG brothers they can be.
1. Chapter 1

**Well guys I'm back! Author's note at the end of the chapter! :)**

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Turtle Tot Trouble \- Ch. 1

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*clang*clatter*crash*

"Mikey!" Raph snarled, green eyes flashing over to the fallen form of his little brother. "Shut UP!" Mikey, sprawled out amid several shiny silver boxes of Kraang God-knows-what, looked up at his brothers with a sheepish smile.

Donnie rolled his eyes and held out a hand, pulling Mikey back up on his feet. "We don't know what could be in these crates, Mikey," Donnie warned, looking down to see if anything was broken. "There could be special Kraang mutagen for more experiments or something in there. Be careful!"

"Well, maybe you should make Raph stop pushing me!" Mikey exclaimed, huffing and crossing his arms. He stuck his tongue out at his brother over Donnie's shoulder. Raph sneered.

"The whole purpose of being a ninja is to be quiet," Leo said, putting a finger over his mouth. "Likewise, breaking into the Kraang's headquarters also requires you to be _ t_!" He narrowed his eyes and turned back around, sticking his head around the corner and looking to see if anyone had heard Mikey's fall.

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Leo again. Raph smacked the back of his head. "Ow!" Leo swiveled around to tackle Raph, but a small group of Kraang marched by.

"Kraang must use Kraang-technology to mutate Kraang's mutagen ooze to help Kraang trap the enemies known as 'The Turtles.'" A Kraang bot with just a mask on reported at the front of the group. "The ones known as 'The Turtles' will first be captured due to effects of Kraang's mutated mutagen and captured."

"The mutated mutagen has not yet been tested to see if the effects are to Kraang's liking." Another robot carrying a large vial of shimmering golden ooze interrupted. "'The Turtles' will be the Kraang's first, as the humans call it, 'lab rats.'" Several waves of robotic evil laughter echoed the halls as the Kraang continued marching. Mikey gulped and ducked down a little behind Donnie's shell.

"Guys, we need to get that ooze!" Leo said, biting his lip and slowly drawing one of his katana. Raph pulled out and twirled his sai.

"I'm on it, Fearless!" He smirked and started to run after the aliens to attack, but Leo grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back.

"Raph, hold on. We need a plan, not for you to blow our cover!" Leo hissed. Raph rolled his eyes and growled something under his breath, but held his sai down loosely at his sides. "Thank you. Okay, so first we need to-"

Leo slid his hand off, and Raph, taking advantage of the opportunity given, took off, sprinting after the Kraang. "Raph! No!" Leo yelled. "Get back here!" He unsheathed his other sword, and his brothers both groaned and did the same.

Raph, ignoring his brother, let out a cry as he jumped on the back of one of the robots and stabbed through the side of its head. The others let out shocked beeping noises and lifted their guns as the light died from the Kraang.

"Alright," Raph said, twirling his sai. "Who's hungry?" Two Kraang immediately started firing, and he leaped up and flipped over their heads, landing in between them and slashing. He whipped around and looked up in horror as the Kraang behind him opened the vial and began to pour it on him.

"RAPH!" Leo and Donnie yelled, skidding to a stop halfway down the hallway. Mikey absently noted that the ooze was sparkly. Raph gazed down with wide eyes as the ooze slid slowly down his shell and plastron, coating his upper body. He froze, waiting to see what the ooze would do. The remaining Kraang tilted their heads to the side and chattered back and forth in their tongue excitedly, eagerly awaiting the results.

He shut his eyes and waited for the worst.

_10 seconds…_

_20 seconds…_

_30 seconds…_

He peeked open one eye and looked down.

Nothing happened.

Raph laughed and wiped some of the ooze off with the back of his hand, flinging it onto the surrounding Kraang. Charging, he took off, slicing and dicing, Kraang every which way. His brothers joined him, Leo and Donnie exchanging concerned looks before jumping next to Raph. The remaining Kraang babbled to each other and tried to recover, but they were no match for the almighty Raphael. With a final jab, he stabbed the last robot and kicked it into the growing pile.

"Yay!" Mikey cheered. "Go Raph!" He went to go glomp his older brother, but Donnie grabbed and stopped him.

"Hold on, Mikey. We don't need you getting the ooze on you, either." Donnie shot Raph a glare, which he evenly returned. "We don't even know what it is! For all we know you could wake up to be an orange pile of goo!" Mikey froze with his arms outstretched around Raph and slowly took a step back.

"Raph, if you become a pile of goo, can I have your room?" Raph growled in response. "I take it as a no then?" Leo pushed his way past Mikey and Donnie and crossed his arms in front of Raph.

"That was stupid, Raphael," Leo growled, blue eyes growing darker with every word. "That goo could've really done something to you, and then where would be? Can you not just listen to what I have to say for one minute?"

"Yeah? Well, you know what, I'm fine! In fact, I feel great!" Raph snarled back, holding his arms out. "And you also know what else? It didn't do anything! You need to stop filling Airhead with ideas!" He narrowed his eyes at Donnie and jerked his head in Mikey's direction, who looked behind him for the Airhead.

"We don't know any Airhea- HEY!"

Donnie sighed as Mikey stamped his foot in indignation. "Look, maybe it's not doing anything we can see. Or maybe it's not doing anything yet at all! Just… go rinse yourself off outside before we go home and you ruin the entire sewer, okay?"

Raph crossed his arms and sneered at his brother. "You're not my mother."

"Alright, well, you'll have to wear a huge yellow hazmat suit and won't be able to take it off," Donnie mused. "I think I still have mine from when Leo burned dinner a year ago." Raph frowned. "Plus, I'll have to pin and poke you like a specimen until all the goo wears off. And who knows how long that'll be!"

Raph widened his eyes. "You wouldn't dare, Donatello."

"Try me, Raphael," Donnie smirked. Raph sighed and went to go find a hose on the side of the building. Mikey winced when they heard the start of the water and yowling screeches of "That's cold as SHELL!" and "I'm gonna get you for this, Donatello!"

Leo pinched the bridge of his beak in frustration. "Let's go. Are you ready?" Mikey dashed forward, but Donnie held up a finger.

"Actually, I do want to get a sample of the mutagen. After all, who knows what this actually could lead to doing? Give me a moment." From his messenger bag, he pulled out a Popsicle stick and an empty container. He scooped some off of the leg piece of a Kraang and ran to catch up with his brothers, who were already with a very cold, very wet Raphael. Raph glared at Donnie, teeth chattering and shivering up a storm. He muttered something under his breath, which Donnie ignored.

Leo crept up the side of the building using the fire escape (fire safety is important to humans and Kraang alike) and flipped up onto the roof. His brothers followed his example and did the same, and from there, they ran across the rooftops back to the nearest manhole cover. Mikey ran up first, sliding down a pole and landing next to the cover. Leo and Donnie landed down gracefully, but Raph jumped down, falling onto Mikey and knocking him flat. The poor turtle was completely unexpecting and squashed out flat like a pancake, eyes bulging.

"Raph," he wheezed. "I think you cracked my shell." Raph snickered and rolled off Mikey following Leo and Donnie down and dragging Mikey behind him. Donnie moved the cover back down into its rightful place, and the boys began their short trip home.

When they ran into the lair, they all jumped into their living room pit and settled down. Mikey picked up a half-eaten box of pizza and shoved a crust into his mouth. He threw it to Raph, who grabbed his and Donnie's pizza and handed the box to Leo. Leo grabbed it without looking up. Space Heroes was on, and it was Leo's favorite episode.

It was like every other night. Leo was watching (and quoting) his show, Mikey was flipped upside down and reading a comic book, Donnie was typing up a storm on his laptop, and Raph was feeding Spike his dinner. Every now and then, Mikey would throw a crust at the back of Raph's head and laugh when he'd tense up.

Raph got so fed up with Leo's quoting, Mikey's crusts, and Donnie's clacking that he stood straight up. "That's it! I'm going to bed." He threw the crusts at Mikey, who yelped and covered his face and gently picked up Spike. He stormed off into his room and slammed the door.

Mikey yawned. "Donnie, what time is it?" Donnie glanced down at the time on his computer.

"Holy shell, it's already 1:30!" Donnie exclaimed, eyes wide. Leo turned around in disbelief. "I didn't realize."

"Go to bed, Mikey. You too, Donnie. I will once I finish this episode." Leo ordered.

"Gladly. Night, bros." He yawned again and shuffled into his room. His snores sounded as soon as he hit the pillow.

"I will. I'm trying to hook up the ooze to see the chemical makeup and effect of an individual with each chemical." Donnie typed something else. "It should be finished tomorrow afternoon or the morning after or so?" He shut the laptop, bid his brother a good night, and headed for his lab.

Leo shut off the TV and stood up. Turning around, he snorted, seeing the mess his brothers left for him to clean up. He straightened up the cushions and threw the pizza box and crusts away, wrinkling his nose when he stepped in something that looked a lot like moldy sauce. When he was finished, he headed to his room, gently shutting the door behind him and collapsing in exhaustion on his bed. He was out like a light within moments.

Meanwhile, outside, a bright golden light gleamed throughout the lair, emanating from Raph's room.

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**Well, I guess I should start off by saying hi, everybody! It's been... A year since I've posted anything TMNT. However, I may be back for a bit. The other day I got an email saying that one of my stories - Do You Want To Do Snow Angels? - was nominated for the 2014 TMNT Stealthy Stories competition, more specifically the 'Best Chibi' category. That's HUGE! I am super excited!**

**Since I used to follow the competition blog on Tumblr, but when nobody took over I figured they weren't doing it. And since I hadn't written anything in forever, I never expected to be nominated! **

**Well, since I don't know who nominated me, but I wanted to write them something and thank them! And since they liked my chibi story, I wanted to give them another! However, I'm a little (okay a lot) rusty on my TMNT knowledge and on writing too, and I've had this completed story in a notebook since I finished writing it on 3/30/13. So I decided I'd publish it to thank them!**

**So to whoever nominated me, I love you! And I hope you enjoy this story. In fact, I hope all of you enjoy this story! :) **

**Since this is completed and all I have to do is type up the chapters and edit them a little, I should update fairly quickly for each chapter. Also, I know from researching a little the other day that there are a lot of people with turtle tot fics nowadays, so I hope I'm not copying anyone's ideas. **

**I think that's all I have to say. Besides that I (even after a year) still don't own the turtles! Hope y'all enjoy... And thanks again! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is here! I'm publishing this through mobile, so let me know if autocorrect hits me anywhere. Also, when I reread the story to make sure it was complete, I felt like everyone was a little OOC. I felt that was understandable, because it was one of my first stories, but I am trying to fix it now. I am a little rusty on everyone now, too, so if anything is super bad, please let me know and I'll try to fix it. Other than that, sorry about that! **

**Remember, updates will happen fairly quickly, but there will be no set date. I probably would've updated yesterday if I hadn't had AP mock testing today! (My brain is still so fried oh my word!) **

**Another note I forgot to say in the first chapter is that this is set early in the seasons, before Casey and Spike's mutation and before anything recent. Please keep in mind I haven't watched the show in a year and can't put any little hints or nods to recent episodes in, but there are some from old episodes! **

**I don't own the turtles, and hope you enjoy! **

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_The water felt like ice, freezing his body inside and out. He tried to scream for help, for his father, or for his brothers to save him, but the filthy water poured into his mouth and he choked._

_"Help me!" He cried, the tears streaming down his face mixing with the sewer water. "Anybody!" He turned, trying to find something to grab onto, but a huge wave roared up and swallowed him whole._

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"No!" Raph cried out, bolting up and tumbling out of his bed. He sniffled and wiped his eyes before standing up and tottering out of his room. He looked up and saw the tell tale flickers of light that signaled his father was awake and meditating and ran to his room. Tears were still welling up and he wiped at his beak with the back of his hand as he knocked on the door. "Wake up! Please?"

Splinter stirred from the astral plane at the sound of a heavy knocking against his door. He paused a bit, waiting for them to knock again, but when he didn't hear anything, closed his eyes to resume his meditation. And that's when he heard the crying.

"Hello?" He called out, standing up and going to open the door. These sobs, what had occurred? His sons were teenagers now, and they didn't cry much, if at all.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" A tiny voice wailed. "I had a bad dream!"

Splinter sniffed the air; it was obviously Raphael behind the door, but this had to be a prank. Raphael never truly cried, even as a child, and he hadn't gone to Splinter with a bad dream since he was 5.

Splinter narrowed his eyes; this prank of his sons was going to cost them extra training time and a LOT of meditation. He flung open the door in irritation.

He was NOT prepared for what was on the other side of his door.

"Raphael?" Splinter asked, eyes widening in disbelief. "My... my son?"

A silently sobbing turtle tot no more than 5 years old was standing in his doorway. Raphael's trademark beaten up, red mask had slipped down around his neck because of its large size.

"Can I please sleep with you?" Raph looked up with watery green eyes and sniffled. Splinter felt his heart break at the sound of his sobs, and though he did not know the extent of the situation or the circumstances that caused it, knew he'd never be able to turn down one of his sons. He kneeled down and held open his arms. Raph rushed into them, clutching the back of Splinter's robe as if it were a lifeline.

Splinter stood up and looked around. His room wouldn't be large enough for the both of them, and neither would Raphael's. Raph clutched on tighter as Splinter went to the living room and sat down in the pit. He'd stopped crying, but instead had his face buried in Splinter's shoulder.

Gently, Splinter pulled Raph down onto his lap. He didn't say anything but just held the turtle tot. Slowly, Raph stopped heaving and had calmed down enough to fall asleep. Nothing bad would ever happen to him in his father's arms.

In all honesty, Splinter didn't care about how this happened, and why one of his teenagers was miraculously 10 years younger. To him, this was almost a second chance at being a father again, at the crucial age where his sons still ran to him with problems, to play or give him a picture they'd sloppily drawn with utter pride, or even to simply smile at him.

Splinter savored this moment, this stolen moment of parenthood he'd long since had to give up. In sleep, Raph's face had smoothed out to where no hatred, anger, or impatience could touch it - only peace, comfort, and happiness.

There father and son sat all night, safe from the waves.

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Splinter awoke with a start. He'd had the strangest dream last night; his son had once again become a child, and Splinter had had another chance at being just a father, not also a Sensei.

He attempted to stand but was stopped by the sleeping turtle in his lap. All traces of disappointment from his dream were instantly replaced with confusion and shock. Raphael stirred, jarred from his sudden movements, and Splinter eased back down, silently praying that the child would not wake.

His prayers were answered as Raph slowly drifted back to sleep, the corners of his mouth tipping up in an almost-smile. He covered him with a blanket one of his sons had left and folded last night, most likely Leonardo.

A quiet cream sounded behind him, and his ears flicked back. "Michelangelo. I will advise you not to try and prank Raphael with water balloons." Sheepishly, Mikey giggled and hid the water balloons behind his shell.

"What water balloons, Sensei?" He asked, a goofy grin on his face. "How did you know I was there?" He walked around in front of Splinter and balanced on his toes.

Splinter smiled. "My son, you sounded like a herd of elephants. Ninjas must not be seen or heard."

The goofy smile grew. "Hai." He peeked down at the lump in Splinter's lap as it stirred once more. "Ooh, what's that?"

The blanket set up, and Mikey's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. "Is it a puppy?!" He clapped his hands together in glee. "I always wanted a puppy!" Splinter raised an eyebrow a motioned for Michelangelo to hide behind the TV. Mikey complied.

Raph pulled the blanket off of his head in confusion. He looked up at Splinter and beamed, standing up and hugging on his neck. "I didn't have any more nightmares, Dad!" He sat back and his face grew solemn. "But you can't tell my brothers..'Nie says I have a rep'tation to uphold!"

Splinter nodded. "Your secret is safe with me, my son. You may tell me your dream later, no?" Raph nodded and hopped down onto the floor.

"I'm gonna go play now!" Raph declared proudly, dashing off in the direction of his room. He turned and waved one more time in Splinter's direction before running out of sight.

"You may come out now, Michelangelo," Splinter said, still looking in the direction Raphael went. Mikey came out, eyes the size of dinner plates and a dumbfounded look upon his face.

"Was that... Raph?" He breathed. "AWESOME! I always wanted a little brother!"

Splinter refrained a sigh. "My son, do you have any idea how this occurred? Last night he came to me with a nightmare."

Mikey giggled. "Raphie had a bad dream?" He cooed. "Awwwww..."

"Your brother is approximately 5 years old, Michelangelo. Night terrors are common in young children; all of you had bad dreams at least once. As I recall, many of Raphael's were about drowning, especially after he fell in when I took him scavenging with me one day when you were very young."

Mikey looked off towards the direction of Raph's room and twisted up his beak. "Last night Raph got some weird Kraang ooze on him; I guess that's what it did." His eyes lit up. "That's so cool! I wanna be a kid, too!" Splinter silently thanked whoever was listening that it wasn't Michelangelo who had been turned into a child, although, Michelangelo never truly did grow up. However, Raphael also wouldn't have been his first pick for being a child again; he was just as mischevious as his youngest, and still had his temper to boot.

Sure enough, Raphael ran out of his room, face like thunder. "Sensei, did Leo steak my blue car again? I can't find it anywhere! Blue's my favorite color, and he took it!" Mikey giggled; nowadays, Raph would claim he hated the color blue, simply because it was Leo's.

Splinter's face grew unsure. "Well, Raphael, I do not know where your toys are. Why don't you look again?"

Raph's face grew darker and stamped his foot. "I did! Like a bajillion times!" Splinter sighed. This was the one part of parenting toddlers he did not miss.

"Hey Raph," Mikey interrupted. Raph turned to Mikey with narrowed eyes. "Why don't we go play somethin'?" He offered, kneeling down to get to Raph's height. Raph beamed, all signs of an oncoming storm dissipating. He didn't seem to care that his once younger brother was now ten years older than him.

"Yeah!" Raph jumped up and down. "You wanna play superheroes?"

"I have an even better idea," Mikey said. He held up two water balloons. "Let's go prank Donnie and Leo!"

Raph squealed with excitement. "'Nie and Leo! Yeah!"

And when two identical evil grins came into place, Splinter suddenly regretted ever introducing water balloons to his sons.

_Leonardo and Donatello - the best of luck, my sons._

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**Hope y'all liked this chapter too. Poor Donnie and Leo; they're definitely both in for a real surprise. Keep in kind that kid!Raph is also gonna behave differently than the normal Raph we know and love. As a kid, I always pictured him as more easy going; it's only when he grew up did he start being more and more temperamental. Not saying he didn't have a temper as a kid, he definitely knew how to pitch a fit! (Poor Splinter!) If you kinda wanna see what I mean with that, there's another old fic somewhat based on that idea named _Time Bomb _that I wrote. You're welcome to read it if you're interested. **

**Anyway, hope y'all all have a great day! Until next time! :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for not updating earlier; I was going to on Saturday, but I went to go tour colleges and I left the notebook with this story at home. But it's here now! Enjoy! **

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"Come on, Mikey!" Raph grabbed Mikey's hand and tried to tug him in the direction of his brothers' rooms. Mikey hesitated, looking at his father and tilting his head to the side with a goofy grin on his face.

Splinter suppressed a sigh. Even if he had told them no, they probably would have pranked Leo and Donnie anyway. When Raph put on his best puppy dog eyes at Splinter's hesitation, Splinter could feel his willpower crack begin to crack. He pinched the bridge of his nose and stood up to go make himself a cup of tea.

God knows he was going to need it.

"Michelangelo, _watch_ Raphael." Mikey nodded at Splinter's pointed look. Raph beamed and dragged his brother off in the direction of poor Donatello's room. Mikey tiptoed in front of Raph and crept down the hallway. Raph followed without complaint, except that his little footsteps echoed loudly off of the walls and his brother cringed.

"Bro," Mikey whispered, swiveling around and stopping, letting Raph crash into the front of his shell. "You need to hush! You're gonna ruin our plan!"

Raph stuck his tongue out. "I'm not a ninja yet!" Raph whined, crossing his arms and pouting. As if real Raph himself had actually slapped the back of his head, the realization that since his brother was now around the age of a 4 or 5 year old, he most likely wouldn't have started his training until a little bit later. Mikey grinned, thinking of all the new possibilities he could do now that Raph didn't remember anything from that of late.

_Mikey minions? Dr. Prankenstein Jr.?! _

Raph, growing impatient at Mikey's vacant expression, pushed past his (now) older brother and flung open the door to Donnie's room. He strutted in like he owned the place, and Mikey whirled around and sucked a breath through his teeth. He jerked Raph back out of the room and hid behind the door frame.

"You can't just do that, bro! You'll wake him up!" Raph threw off Mikey's hand and snuck in anyway. He inched closer to Donnie and peeked up at the sleeping turtle over the edge of his bed. "Raph, stop!" _Sheesh, doesn't this kid know anything about pranking?_

"No!" Raph retorted, wrinkling up his beak and stamping his foot. _Boy, turtle tots sure are stubborn, _Mikey thought and winced._ Poor Splinter. _Donnie stirred at Raph's retort, yawned, and blinked blearily. Seizing his opportunity, Raph hopped up on his plastron and stared directly into his eyes. When Donnie's vision finally cleared, all he saw were two huge, fluorescent green eyes peering into his.

"Donn-ayy!" Raph sang. Donatello's eyes grew wide and he shrieked, jerking up and letting Raph slide down to the floor. The turtle tot jumped up and wrapped his arms around his brother's legs. "You're awake!" Donnie threw out his arms as his balance was compromised.

"Whoaaa," Mikey said, throwing an arm around Donnie's shoulders to steady him. "Donn-ay!" He mimicked, a huge grin on his face as he batted his eyes at Donnie, who gave him a dirty look in return.

"Get off me, Mikey," he pushed him away. "I think we know what the ooze did." Mikey could see the gears turning behind his brother's eyes and tilted his head.

"Really? What?" Mikey asked curiously. Donnie ignored him and bent down to the turtle tot.

"Hey, Raphie!" Donnie cooed. Raph beamed and jumped up into Donnie's arms. Raph pulled himself up to be riding on the back of Donnie's shell and rested his head on the top of his brother's.

"'Nie, Mikey's being a buzz-kill!" Raph whined, pointing an accusing finger at his brother.

"Liar!" Mikey exclaimed, jaw dropped.

"Mikey! Play with Raph right now!" Donnie scolded, trying to look up to take a peek at Raph. Mikey's jaw dropped even further as Raph smirked at him from where Donnie couldn't see. Mikey narrowed his eyes and hmphed.

"But 'Nie, I want you to play with me now!" Raph begged. Donnie reached up and swung Raph down next to Mikey.

"I can't right now, Raph. I will in a little bit? I have to finish testing this goo we found last night." Raph blinked up at him, and Donnie sighed. "You know, boring science stuff."

"Is it the goo that turned us into mutants?" Raph's eyes were wide. He ran all over Donnie's room in excitement, jumping up and down on his bed, then trying to pull himself up onto Donnie's desk to see if it was there. "I wanna play with it? Can I touch it? What color is it? Maybe it'll make me strong! Can I be a superhero? Mikey, let's play superheroes!"

"No!" Donnie cried out, horrified. "Mikey, get Raph to go play somewhere else! Now!" Donnie groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as Raph accidentally tipped over a teetering stack of books next to his desk. A stray foot slipped out and knocked one book down, then sent the whole stack tumbling.

"Right," Mikey said, grabbing Raph's hand from the desk edge and swinging him up onto his shoulders. When Raph cried out in protest, Mikey said, "No, let's leave Donnie alone now. Let's go wake up Leo!" Raph stopped complaining and kicked his heels against Mikey's shoulders, thoughts of Leo-waking running through his mind. Mikey winked at Donnie as he walked out, and Donnie sighed. This was going to be interesting.

Raph slipped down Mikey's shell once they left Donnie's room and made a wild dash to reach Leo's room before his brother. _Nope! _Mikey thought, flipping up into the air and propelling himself to land right in front of Raph and Leo's door. He silently opened Leo's door before Raph even skidded to a stop.

"Wow!" Raph's jaw was on the floor. "I wanna do that! COOL!" He looked up at Mikey with wide eyes of admiration, and Mikey could feel his face light up. _This might be the only time Raph's ever complimented me! Duuude! This is a day that's gonna go down into history books! A national holiday!_

Raph snuck into Leo's room and glanced back at Mikey. Mikey was standing by the door, a big dopey smile on is face as he obviously was picturing something and bowing. Raph hesitated, turning back towards Leo; he had to get the perfect prank for his big brother. Raph screwed up his beak in thought for a brief moment. A 'lightbulb' moment enlightened the turtle tot, and the apprehensive look vanished and gave way to Raph's trademark smirk.

"Hi-YAH!" Raph brought down the side of his hand straight down into the middle of Leo's plastron. It wasn't enough to hurt, but enough for Leo to awaken and react.

Blue eyes flew open and a hand struck out, punching Raph in shoulder as the turtle tot ducked and knocking him down off onto the floor. He crumpled into a tiny heap.

"Leo! No!" Mikey cried out, holding out both hands as Leo jumped out of bed to go finish the deed. Mikey raced over to the heap on the floor and cradled Raph. Raph had screwed up his face in an effort not to cry, but tears were still managing to leak down his face. "It's cracked!" Raph cried. "My shell is cracked! I'm going to die!"

"WHAT?!" Mikey shrieked. "LEO, HE'S GOING TO DIE!" Raph started to cry even harder. Leo stood frozen at the foot of his bed.

"Raph?" He whispered. Raph tried to burrow into Mikey's shoulder. "Raph, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you; I thought it was... someone else." He held out his arms to Raph in the typical big brother fashion and picked Raph up off of Mikey's lap. "See? It's okay now. Right?" Raph's wails subsided, and he burrowed his face into Leo's neck, and Leo cringed as he felt tears and snot and begin to stain his bandana tails. O_h god, is that... sticky? What the shell is that? _

Donnie burst into Leo's room, panting and throwing the first aid kit onto the bed. "I heard crying. Raph, what happened?" He took his brother from Leo's arms and set him on the bed.

"I cracked my shell!" Raph's wails started up again, and Donnie shot Leo an accusing look. Leo sighed.

"Can I see it?" Donnie asked quietly. Raph looked up with watery eyes, thought about it, and pointed to his plastron. Donnie squinted, but he didn't see any crack. Raph's zig-zag crack was there, but nothing else. Donnie pulled out an orange band-aid (Mikey's favorite) and placed it over the 'crack.' "There, is that better? Wow, Raph. You're so brave. It's your first battle scar!" Donnie praised as he closed his first aid kit back up.

Raph puffed his chest out and hopped down off of Leo's bed. Splinter walked in, and Raph ran over. "Look, Dad, look! I had a crack but 'Nie fixed it! He can fix anything!" He puffed out his chest even farther and pointed to the band-aid. "I got it from fighting bad ninjas! I didn't even cry!"

Splinter, knowing that was a fabrication because he could hear Raph's wailing all the way from the dojo, merely nodded and pretended to look impressed. Donnie's chest was puffed out, identical to Raph's at his praise.

"My son, are you hungry? Come, it is time for breakfast."

"I'm starving!"

"Ditto!" Mikey butted in. "Race ya!" He and Raph took off running to the kitchen; Leo smiled at Mikey's wounded cry as Raph 'beat' him. Mikey used to do the same thing as a kid so Raph wouldn't be mad at him if he lost. Plates rattled, and something crashed onto the floor.

Splinter sighed, and both Leo and Donnie cringed. The trio followed the noises into the kitchen; Raph was sitting on Mikey's shoulders. Raph was marveling at all of the food.

"Wow! We've never had so much food! And it's human food, too!" Splinter could remember when he used to have to look for scraps to feed his family, and the many hungry nights they all went in those first few years. Raph's eyes were wide and he kept running his hands over the colorful boxes.

"April brings some of it," Donnie said proudly.

"You mean, your girlllllfriend?" Mikey peered over Raph's legs at his brother and grinned.

"W-what? She's not my girlfriend, Mikey!" Donnie's cheeks flushed.

"No, but you want her to be." Leo smirked, watching as Donnie's cheeks grew even redder.

"T-that's none of you-"

A door slammed outside of the kitchen, and on instinct, all of the adults stiffened. Raph, oblivious as ever, continued to marvel at all of the food.

"Hello? Guys? Is anyone home?" A pause. "Master Splinter?" 4 pairs of unsure eyes looked at each other.

"Hello?"

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**I hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed! :)**

**Also - RandomQueenA - I absolutely LOVE your ideas! You may see them later on. I'll talk to you later about it. :) **

**Have a good day, everybody! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, I didn't expect to update twice in one day, but oh well! Since this week is our last school week before Spring Break, I may wait until then to update. (Probably not though tbh). Enjoy!**

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"Leo, you go out there. Donnie, you too." Mikey ordered, pointing at his brothers then at the door. When Leo glared at him for giving orders, Mikey simply shrugged. "I'll fix Raph breakfast." Raph made a face behind Mikey.

Leo snorted. "_You_ go out to April. I'll feed Raph." Raph's eyes lit up as he let Mikey drop him onto the counter. Donnie rolled his eyes, and then both he and Mikey walked out into the lair. Raph sat down on the counter next to where Leo was standing and eyeballed his brother solemnly.

"Hey guys!" He heard the voice say.

"April!" Donnie gasped. "Wait… I meant… Hey, April…" Mikey cackled as something crashed, probably at the extent of his brother making a fool out of himself in front of the girl. Someone said something funny, and everyone laughed outside. Splinter nodded a goodbye at his eldest and walked out, probably to go speak to their guest. Leo rolled his eyes at his brothers' antics and turned to his little brother, jerking back slightly when he saw his serious expression.

"What?" He asked in surprise. Raph blinked at Leo then pointed up at a single blue box in the cupboard.

"Leo, what are Pop-Tarts?"

"You don't know what Pop-Tarts are? But you have them every day for breakfa-" Leo cut himself off. Big Raph did, when he wasn't stealing Mikey's absurdly unhealthy cereal. "You know what? That's a great idea. Do you want one?" Raph nodded his head vigorously. Leo smiled and plucked a pair from the box, popping them into their rusty old toaster. "Now you gotta wait a few minutes, okay?"

Raph frowned. "But I don't wanna wait!"

Leo hesitated, watching as the expression on his little brother's face went from one of excitement to one of thunder. "It's not that long. It has to heat them up." Raph's face grew darker, and Leo knew he had to think of something fast. "Uh… Do you want to have a thumbwar?"

The crease in Raph's forehead smoothed out. "Okay." Leo stuck his hand out and Raph grabbed it.

"Ready?" Raph nodded, and Leo smiled. "I am so going to beat you." He teased.

Raph grinned. "Nuh uh!"

"1, 2, 3, 4 - I declare a thumb war!" Leo started.

"5, 6, 7, 8 - try to keep your thumb straight!" Raph giggled. "Go!"

Leo let Raph win several games. Forgetting all about the Pop-Tarts, the smell of smoke started to waft through the air and they popped out of the toaster. Raph shrieked and fell off of the counter.

Leo looked up, startled. "What?! What is it?" He bent over to look at the cowering turtle tot, hiding behind the counter.

His brothers rushed into the kitchen at the sound of the cry, April on their heels.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asked. "We heard you scream!"

Mikey cackled. "Just like a little girl!" Mikey bent over in laughter, and both Donnie and April smacked his arm. "Ow!" He whined.

Leo looked confused. "But I didn't screa- OH!" It hit him that it was Raph, and Raph tightened his grip on his leg. "Oh yeah. I wasn't paying attention, I guess." He chuckled weakly.

Donnie raised an eye-ridge at Leo. "Alright, alright, let's go." He tried to shoo Mikey and April back out the door.

Or at least he tried too.

"Hey, Leo," April turned around and peered over Donnie's shoulder. Leo lifted a hand and waved back. April stopped and turned around. "Where's Raph? Is he here today?"

Leo tensed up, and Raph, hearing his name, poked his head out around the edge of the counter and blinked up at the girl.

"Oh!" April gasped. Raph buried his face into the back of Leo's knee; he'd never seen a human before; weren't all humans supposed to be mean?

"Leo?" Raph whispered. "Who's that?" April had pushed her way in front of Donnie and was gaping at him. Leo ignored her and picked Raph up, setting him on his hip.

"That's April. She's one of our friends." Leo explained. Raph peeked up at her with interest, now that he knew she was a friend. He squirmed to get down, so with a sigh, Leo dropped him.

Raph walked hesitantly up to her. She squatted down and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. Raph's eyes bulged out a bit, and Mikey winced. "He's sooo cute!" April squealed.

"I'm not cute!" Raph protested. He frowned at her with the best scowl he could muster while struggling to breathe, but she didn't listen. April scooped him up again. Raph looked at Leo pleadingly, then Donnie, then Mikey. Leo shrugged, but then he grinned.

"Raph, come here and eat your Pop-Tarts. Look, they're getting cold." April sadly let him down. Raph raced over and climbed up into his set and shoveled Pop-Tarts in his mouth, casting wary glances as the girl stepped up. Leo leaned down and whispered something in Raph's ear.

"Really?" Raph whined. "But I don't wanna!" Leo gave him a pointed look and he huffed. He wolfed down the rest of his Pop-Tart and walked back to April, who was gesturing adamantly to Donnie and throwing glances in Raph's direction. Mikey's gaze went back and forth between the two, a more confused look growing with each exclamation.

Raph tugged on April's pant's leg. She happily scooped him up, and he beamed at her. He hugged her, and scowled at Leo when she couldn't see. Leo laughed and winked at him, and Raph grinned wickedly.

"Can I touch your hair?" Raph asked innocently, trying to make his eyes as big as possible. Donnie opened his mouth to speak, but April cut him off.

"Sure, honey." She pulled out her ponytail and shook her hair down to her shoulders. Donnie's eyes bulged out and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

_Man, he's good! _Mikey admired Raph's puppy dog eyes from the kitchen table. _Guess he learned from the master..._

Raph gently patted the ends of her hair and wrinkled up his beak. "It's weird..." He said, snatching his hand back. "It's soft. And it's red! Can I have red hair?"

April laughed. "I'm sure that one day, when you grow up, and if you still want hair, I could find you a wig?" Raph nodded excitedly, and April squeezed him into a hug again. "Isn't he soo cute, Donnie?"

Raph smiled innocently from April's shoulder, and Donnie fumed. "Adorable."

"Oh dude!" Mikey snickered. "Looks like your girlfriend left you, bro. For your bro!" He smacked the table in laughter. "Do you want some ice for that burn?"

"Mikey, that wasn't even a burn!" Donnie retorted. He turned his gaze to Leo, who shrugged.

"Felt like one to me." Donnie growled, and Leo held up his hands and leaned against the counter in self-defense.

Donnie's response was cut off by howling laughter, and the three brothers looked over to the source of the noise. April smiled sheepishly as Raph tried unsuccessfully to bat her hands away from his plastron. "I think he's ticklish?"

Mikey giggled then cast an appraising look at Leo. "Hey, Leo?" Mikey asked, and Leo shot him a warning look. "Are _you _ticklish?" He raked his fingers up and down one of Leo's sides; Leo snorted and shoved Mikey away. Then, his eyes landed on Donnie's.

"Oh, no." Donnie held up his hands and slowly back towards the kitchen door. "I am not going to participate in this." He turned with a call of "Bye, April!" and booked it off to his lab.

Mikey shrugged and stood up. He went over next to April and tried to tickle Raph's tummy, too. Raph roared in laughter, and Leo quickly joined in. It became an all out tickle war; giggles and peals of laughter erupted from the kitchen.

Everyone was so preoccupied with trying to protect their own stomach while trying to tickle the person next to them that nobody noticed Splinter walk it. He cleared his throat, and Leo whipped around immediately. Mikey turned around too, only after trying to tickle Leo in his moment of distraction.

"My sons, should I come back at a later time?" Leo shook his head and stared at Mikey out of the corner of his eye.

"No, Sensei."

"Nope."

Splinter raised an eyebrow. "In that case, it is time for training. My sons, round up your other brother. Today is going to be a sparring day."

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**Aww, when Raph grows up again, he's gonna be so upset he missed a sparring day. I suppose it can't be helped though, in the matter of cuteness. :) have a good week, everyone!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Whoops, sorry it's been so long since I've last updated... Maybe a week and a half? Oh well, I thought that with Spring Break, I'd have updated more, but apparently not, haha! Anyway, enjoy!**

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"Hai, Sensei," Leo and Mikey bowed and headed off to the dojo. Mikey cast a curious look over his shoulder at Raph but still padded off after Leo. Raph was peeking up over the counter next to April.

"Dad, I wanna train! I wanna be a ninja, too!" Raph jumped up and down with excitement, pretending to kick and punch like the ninjas he'd seen on TV.

Splinter's ears twitched uncomfortably. April watched in amusement as Raph pleaded with his father. "No, Raphael. You are not yet old enough, my son. I do not want you to get hurt." Raph's eyes welled up with tears, and Splinter pressed his ears back to side of his head.

Raph sniffled again, looking up at Splinter with the best puppy dog eyes he could manage. April covered her mouth and muffled a giggle, and Splinter sighed.

"You may come watch your brothers spar, but whether or not you train today is a different story." Splinter relented, pinching the bridge of his snout as Raphael squealed with delight and hugged his tail, running off to the dojo as fast as he could.

April laughed at Splinter's weary expression. He sighed and turned his gaze to her. "April, do you mind watching him in there? I am afraid he will get, ah, underfoot." April nodded and giggled, turning to run after her charge.

Splinter shook his head; having a young child was a lot harder than he remembered it being. Next, he padded off to his last son's lab and knocked on the door.

"I'm warning you," Donnie snarled inside. "If you even try to get in here to tickle me, I'll stick you with this Kraang ooze! Stay out Mikey!" Splinter raised an eyebrow.

"Donatello? My son, it is time to spar, not to… tickle." Donnie cracked open the door and swung it open, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry, Sensei. I thought you were Leo or Mikey. Or worse, Raph!" Splinter tilted his head in agreement. Donnie stepped outside and shut the door behind him. He walked with Splinter to the dojo, sitting on Leo's right. Raph waved at him from where he hung upside down on the tree.

"'Nie!" Raph sang, flipping down and crashing into his brother with a smile. "You're back! Mikey told me you died!" Leo glared at Mikey, who at least had the decency to only giggle a little and look down. Raph looked up at Donnie with big, green eyes. "Don't die, 'Nie; I'd miss you!"

With a pang, Donnie realized that Raph did care about him, even if his normal self didn't really care much for showing it. He turned back to his brother and grinned.

"Oh, I wouldn't leave you, Raph. I was just monitoring the ooze we found last night. The tests are almost done, so now we can find a reverse mutagen!"

Raph's eyes lit up. "The gold one? Wow! Can I play with it? It was shiny!"

"No!" Donnie exclaimed, aghast. "Not the gold one!" Raph scowled and plopped down in front of his brothers. He pouted, so his brothers shrugged and moved around him. His scowl grew, and April pulled him over to the side.

"Leonardo, since Raphael is not here today to be your partner, you and Michelangelo will be a team to try and attack Donatello." Donnie squawked, and Leo looked ill at the idea of being paired up with Mikey, who was already jumping around Leo and babbling in his ear. "Donatello, my son, protect yourself. Good luck." He stepped back to allow them to start. "Go!"

_Shell, I'm toast!_ Donnie gulped and moved into a defensive position. Leo caught his brother's eyes and mouthed _I'm sorry._ He and Mikey assumed offensive positions.

"Argh!" Mikey yelled and dashed forward, whirling his nunchucks in the air like a lasso to try and whip Donnie's Bo out of his hands. Donnie flipped backwards, batting one side of the nunchucks away. Mikey tried again, but this time, Donnie twisted his Bo in the chain and flipped them against the wall. He whacked Mikey in the plastron with his Bo, and Mikey crumpled as the wind knocked out of him.

Raph, all signs of a tantrum gone, was watching wide eyed and opened mouth; every time someone moved, he'd tug on April's sleeve and point. April was watching Donnie spar the exact same way Raph was; she'd never seen one of their training sessions before. April was amazed.

Leo charged when Donnie had his back turned, whipping out his twin katanas. In a flash, Donnie raised his Bo, whirling around and blocking the strike. He kicked out, trying to knock a blade away. Leo flipped back, holding one of his katanas in front of him.

Donnie lunged forward, trying to hit his brother with the end of his Bo. He grinned as he got a hit in on his shoulder, his eyes going white. Leo grimaced and tried to slice away at the Bo, but it didn't work. He gave Donnie a tiny clearance to hit him, and Donnie smacked the base of his stick into Leo's stomach. Leo hunched over, winded, and Donnie swiped the katanas. Donnie pushed Leo into Mikey, who fell back down. He stood over them both, holding his Bo in one hand and one of Leo's katana in the other.

"Whoa," Mikey called out. "Please don't hit me again!" Donnie held out a hand, and Mikey grabbed it, hopping up. "Dude, that was AWESOME!" Donnie grinned widely.

Leo pushed himself up too. "Donnie, that was amazing. Nice work," he wheezed and patted his brother on the back. Donnie nodded at him then turned to Splinter.

"Good work, Donatello!" Splinter praised. Raph came running over.

"'Nie! That was sooo cool! Can you do it again?! Can you teach me?" Raph exclaimed. He pointed to the Bo staff. "I want one of those, Dad!"

Donnie hesitated, looking helplessly at Splinter as Raph tried to mimic his moves. His father shook his head and shrugged.

"Donnie! That was amazing!" April gushed, touching Donnie on the side of his arm.

"Why, t-thank you, April!" Donnie blushed and rubbed the back of his head. She smiled then checked her phone and groaned.

"Ugh, it's getting late. I think I'm gonna head home now. I have a lot of homework." She turned to leave, a chorus of "bye, April!" and "laters!" and "adioses!" surrounded her.

"No, April! Stay with us!" Raph pleaded, wrapping his arms around one of her legs. She smiled down at his and shook him off.

"Sorry, Raphie. I have to go home now. I can visit you soon!"

"Yes!" Donnie exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him, and his cheeks flushed as he realized they'd heard him. "Uh, did I say that out loud?" April giggled and waved goodbye one more time, walking out of the lair.

Splinter broke the tension and the sound of Raph's sniffing. "Raphael, come, we must go eat dinner." He held out his hand, and Raph took it, skipping out and pulling his father behind him.

Leo had to grin. _What would teen Raph do? _He wondered._ Certainly not hold Splinter's hand!_

The rest of the brothers went into the kitchen. "Michelangelo, what would you like to help me prepare tonight?" Splinter asked, pulling down plates from the cupboard.

Mikey opened up the fridge and beamed up at his father, pulling out a leftover box of pizza and an egg carton. "Pizza omelet or omelet pizza?" Leo groaned, and Donnie rolled his eyes.

"What's pizza?" Raph asked curiously. Mikey dropped the eggs, and Leo lunged to catch them before they cracked. Mikey dashed over to Raph and knelt down in front of him.

"You haven't had pizza yet?" Mikey squeezed Raph into a hug, gently stroking the back of his head. "You're too precious for this world." He sniffed dramatically. "You poor thing, how have you existed?"

Raph struggled to get away from Mikey and kicked him. He pushed Mikey away and took the pizza box. He sniffed it and looked up at his brothers skeptically. "Are you sure this is any good?"

"Yeah! It's good hot and fresh, but cold is good too!" Donnie said. "You can't go wrong with pizza!"

Mikey snatched the box back. "I'm the chef. And I say we have pizza!" He passed out plates and then threw a slice on each plate. "Voila!"

The older turtles started wolfing theirs down. Raph pushed it around on his plate and frowned.

"Raphie, eat it before it gets cold!" Mikey said, half eaten pizza falling out of his mouth. Leo and Splinter wrinkled up their noses in disgust.

"It's already cold, Mikey." Donnie sighed. Raph pushed the plate away further and crossed his arms.

"Raphael, what's wrong with it?" Splinter asked. "It's perfectly good."

"It looks funny!" Raph whined. "It doesn't look good at all!" He made a face. "I want worms and algae!"

"Raphael, you are going to eat it this instant. You will not eat anything until breakfast if you don't." Splinter warned, ears twitching.

His (now) youngest son pouted. "Fine!" He ran out of the kitchen, and Splinter sighed. He'd definitely not missed the picky eater his son used to be.

"Sensei?" Splinter turned to Mikey, who was looking up with big, blue puppy dog eyes. "Can I have his?"

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**Typical Mikey! xD Hope you liked this chapter! I'm gonna try to update once more before Easter! Have a good day, everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yes I originally said update before Easter, but here it is, a week after Easter. Oops. Maybe I'll stop giving myself deadlines, haha. Anyway, enjoy! **

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"Yes, Michelangelo, you may." Splinter covered his eyes. "My sons, you shall watch Raphael. Make sure he does not get in trouble. I have a headache and am going to go mediate and retire early." A crash sounded in the living room, and Splinter cringed. "Please."

Splinter left, and the remaining teens all looked at each other. Another crash echoed into the kitchen. Donnie groaned as he and his brother dashed out, all not quite knowing what to expect as they babysit their hotheaded (little) bro.

* * *

***a few hours later***

* * *

"Who knew kids were this much work?" Mikey held an asleep Raph by his foot as far away from him as possible. Raph didn't seem to mind, seeing as he was snoring loud enough to wake all of New York. He gently swung the child towards Leo, who freaked and grabbed Raph before he could hit the ground, cradling him against his chest. Mikey flopped back on the couch, next to Donnie, who was cradling some sort of broken robot and doing the calming exercises Master Splinter usually assigned to Raph.

"I gotta say it, guys," Leo whispered. "I commend Sensei. Imagine all four of us. Or even worse, imagine Mikey!" Donnie shuddered at the mere thought.

"Hey!" Mikey whined. "I wasn't that bad!" Donnie and Leo exchanged a look. Mikey stuck out his lower lip and yawned. "I'm going to bed. Night!" Leo tried to hand Raph over to Donnie to follow Mikey's lead, but Donnie let out a short bark of laughter.

"Ha!" Donnie pushed Raph back towards Leo. "Yeah right. Sorry, gotta sleep. Bye!" He dashed into his lab as fast as Mikey had run. Leo could hear the sound of a lock bolting and sighed.

"I guess I'll put you up then. Then we can all go to bed." Leo murmured as he crept into Raph's room. He tucked the tot into his bed and turned out the light. Leo hesitated in the doorway, before turning back around and pressing a kiss to his little brother's forehead. Leo smiled and headed back to his room. He was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

* * *

***early morning when no turtle in their right mind should be awake***

* * *

"Whoa!" Raph's eyes were wide as he eyeballed the sewer tunnels in front of him. Why hadn't his brothers taken him out here yet? This was sooo cool! The tunnels stretched on for MILES! He wanted to go exploring too; that's all his brothers ever talked about.

Too bad the rest of them were asleep. He'd tried to wake Mikey up to go exploring with him, but Mikey mumbled something about pizza and rolled over, gnawing on his pillow. Maybe he'd find something from the surface to bring back and show everyone!

Raph crawled all over the tunnels, trying to find a way out. A plant-covered, broken ladder was propped up underneath a manhole cover. Raph climbed up and tried lifting it up, but it was way to heavy.

Don't worry; soon, when he was all grown up, he was going to be the strongest turtle ever, to lift all the manhole covers he wanted!

Raph pouted in frustration. He punched it, hit it, and smacked it with a yell he worried would wake up his family. When no one came running, he got an idea. Carefully, getting on his hands and using the slimy sewer wall to balance against his plastron, he kicked the cover as hard as he could. The cover lifted up enough for a tot to crawl through, so he squeezed out.

His first sight of the surface was an abandoned, dark, and trashy alley. His jaw dropped in awe. "This is so cool!" He squealed. He didn't see the shadow gently touch down behind him, silently creeping up behind him. All of a sudden, someone grabbed him and flung him against the wall in the back of the alley. Raph was too shocked to cry out, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him.

"I got you," a female voice purred, gripping his carapace and flipping Raph over. "What the-?"

"Please don't hurt me!" Raph's lower lip quivered and his eyes welled up with tears.

The figure in front of him was holding a sword to his throat but lowered it to their side, not sheathing it just quite yet. "You're not Leo?" Raph shook his head frantically, and the person in front of him swore, removing their mouth cover. The girl frowned down at him.

Raph wiped at his eyes and tried to put his fists in front of him like he'd seen his brothers do in sparring. He stamped his foot, trying his best to blink tears from his eyes. He wasn't going to let the bad guys take him! "Go away!" He tried to yell, but it came out as more of a whimper instead. "This is my alley! I was here first!" He stomped again, and the girl raised her eyebrow.

"But you're just a kid!" She growled and slid a hand down her face. She kneeled down in front of Raph and put up her sword, holding up her hands to show they were empty. "My name's Karai. I am one of your brother's... friends? We train together." She squinted at him again. "You are Leonardo's brother, right? Which one are you? I thought there was only four teenagers..." She seemed to mumble the last part to herself, but at the mention of Leo's full name, Raph lowered his fists to his sides.

"Leo is my big brother!" Raph said. The girl's - Karai's - gaze snapped back to him. "I love Leo! Are you his girlfriend?" Karai spluttered. "My other brother Donnie has a girlfriend, or so Mikey says. Her name's April. She's super pretty! She let's me play with her hair. It's red. Do you have red hair? Can I touch it?" Karai sat back in astonishment as the kid starting babbling.

_Please, tell me these turtles aren't reproducing._ Karai prayed. _But I thought Raphael was older... _"How many brothers do you have? Do you have any sisters?"

Raph squinted up at her. "I only have three brothers. Shouldn't you know that, being Leo's girlfriend?" Karai sighed. _What the hell am I supposed to do with him? _By the time Karai turned back to answer the child, he was already rambling on to his new 'friend' again.

"My favorite color is blue! Is your favorite color blue? I wanna be a ninja when I grow up! Are you a ninja?" When she just blinked at him, he tried asking her another question. "Do you wanna play with me?"

Karai couldn't believe her eyes. This HAD to be the work of those stupid robots. But what on Earth had they done to him? "Er... No, I can't... play today. But I'll be here tomorrow." Her father would not believe this.

Raph beamed. "Okay, 'Rai!" He waved at her, and hesitantly, she waggled her fingers back. She turned to go, but peered one last time at the child. "How about we keep this whole thing a secret, okay? Just you and me."

Raph nodded and held out his pinkie. "Okay! Pinkie swear!" Karai put her mouthpiece back on and stepped back towards Raph. She held out her hand cautiously, and the turtle crossed pinkies and bounded off towards the manhole cover.

"Bye, 'Rai!" She turned without saying anything and leapt up the fire escape. Raph crawled back down the ladder and headed back home to sewer sweet sewer. _Wow, I've gotta friend! Another HUMAN friend! _Raph fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

* * *

Leo didn't think he'd ever slept harder than he had that night. His dreams were certainly telling of that fact. A small, snow-white bunny was jumping up and down on his plastron.

"Gerroff," Leo mumbled, trying to push the bunny away. The bunny started to jump even higher.

"Leo! Leo! Leo! Wake up! Wake up!" Leo opened his eyes to a see a cute, green eyed turtle beak to beak with him.

"Agh!" Leo stumbled out of the bed and into a tangled up heap with his blankets on the floor. Raph giggled with delight and ran out of his room. Leo plopped his head back down onto the side of his bed and groaned.

"Donnie! Donnie! Donnie!" Leo could faintly hear, and then a high pitched girly scream echoed. Evil laughter sounded by and Raph ran from Donnie's room to Mikey's. Sleepily, Leo stumbled out into the hallway and leaned up against the wall. Donnie staggered out of his room next, rubbing his eyes and groaning. He leaned up against Leo and dozed off.

"I wish this were a dream," Donnie mumbled as Mikey screamed, the loudest one yet. Mikey staggered out of his room next, holding Raph upside down by his foot again. Raph was giggling and trying to flip up onto his brother's shell.

"I think this belongs to you guys," Mikey yawned. The brothers groaned, none of them prepared for the day to come.

* * *

Another day of screaming, yelling, running, playing, and eating overwhelmed Leo, Mikey, and Donnie that day. No surprise there.

"Guys," Donnie hissed under his breath as he pretended to be searching for Raph. "We need a break!" A creepy giggle that would probably would've sounded cute if they hadn't heard it all day sounded from underneath the couch; Donnie pretended not to hear it.

"I'm gonna find youuuu, Raphael!" Mikey crooned. He grabbed the couch cushion and lifted it up. "Is he under here? Nooooo." Raph giggled again.

"Let's ask Splinter if we can go topside!" Leo offered. Mikey looked up and nodded excitedly.

"Dude! We need some new pizza! I wanna get Raph marshmallow and anchovy! Maybe he'll like that one!" Donnie rolled his eyes. Mikey made a face back and pulled out his little brother from underneath the couch.

"There you are!" He cooed. "I found you!" He tickled Raph's tummy and set the little turtle down squealing. "Let's go talk to Splinter, okay?" Raph's eyes lit up at the mention of his father and he raced down to Splinter's room. Wearily, his brothers followed him.

"I'm never having kids," Donnie groaned to Leo. Leo nodded, eyes wide in agreement.

"Why? This is fun!" Mikey chirped, skipping down after Raph.

"Mikey, you don't need a kid. You ARE a kid!" Donnie scoffed under his breath to Leo, who snickered in agreement. Raph ran up to Splinter's door, and the others stopped behind him.

"Dad!" Raph pounded on Splinter's door, effectively ruining his meditation. The rat's ears flattened to the sides of his head. He knew this time would come, and he opened his door, resigned to his fate.

"Yes, my sons?"

"Sensei, we need a break." Leo looked up at his father with tired eyes. "Can we go topside for a few hours? Alone from... him?" He jerked his head in Raph's direction, who blinked up innocently. Mikey gave his father his best puppy dog eyes he could manage, although the effect was slightly ruined by his constant yawning.

"You may." Splinter nodded. "I will watch Raphael for a few hours."

"Alright!" The boys gave each other high-fives and turned to grab their weapons and go! However, they all froze at what Raph said.

"Can I go?"

* * *

**Poor Leo, Donnie, and Mikey! Maybe they'll finally get a break. And Karai, wasn't that a surprise? :) Hope y'all liked it! R&amp;R! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Woo! I actually updated early for once! See what not giving deadlines does for a girl? + I haven't done a disclaimer in a while, so here's your reminder that I do not, in fact, own any turtles of the teenage, mutant, or ninja variety. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. R&amp;R! **

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"You are not old enough, Raphael." Splinter said, ears flattened against the sides of his head. Leo and Donnie exchanged uneasy looks as the big grin on Raph's face faded away. Mikey gulped as a look like thunder took its place.

"Am too!" Raph stomped his foot. He crossed his arms and looked up with the angriest face he could make; Leo was mildly impressed about how similar it was to Normal Raph's.

"Are not!" Mikey protested.

Raph rounded on his brother. "Am too!"

"Are nottttt!" Mikey said in a sing-song voice. Raph's face grew red, a sign of an oncoming tantrum.

"Michelangelo, that is enough." Splinter cut in, watching his now-youngest son out of the corner of his eye. "And Raphael, you are not yet a teenager, my son." Raph puffed out his cheeks and scowled. His scowl dropped when Splinter finished speaking, and he stuck his lower lip out, quivering.

_Oh, no..._ Leo groaned. _Not the fake tears again. _Leo remembered many a time when he was a turtle tot, in which Raph used fake tears to get what he wanted. He and Mikey were definitely the pros at that. One time, he tried that, and Splinter looked at him like he'd mutated into a human for the next week!

With a final sniff, loud crying erupted from the youngest turtle. He stomped off down the hallway, looking over his shoulder one last time before rounding the corner and glaring at the rest of his family. The others could hear the sound of stomping all the way to the couch, where Raphael (quite loudly) began screaming that nobody loved him anymore.

Donnie wasn't impressed. "Okay, Sensei, we'll be back before dawn." He turned to herd his brothers out when Splinter called out for him to stop. Their father was pinching the bridge of his nose, ears twitching with every new cry.

"It may not be the best idea for you three to go to the surface while your brother is still... incapacitated."

The older three all cried out. "But Sensei!"

Splinter held up a hand. "I am not going to argue this, my sons." He turned to go back inside his room when Mikey piped up.

"Can't we just take him with us? There's 3 of us, and 1 of him. Someone would always be watching him. Buddy system!" Mikey blurted out. Donnie smacked a hand over his mouth and stopped him from continuing. Splinter paused.

"Well, since Normal Raph isn't here, we wouldn't be jumping into any fights. We could stay on the roof?" Leo suggested, ignoring the stink eye look Donnie was throwing his way. Splinter turned around and looked at Leo. His ear turned towards the direction of the living room, where there was no more crying. Leo looked that way; Raph was peeking over the corner.

"Pwease?" Raph begged, Puppy Dog Eyes activated.

Splinter took a deep breath and locked eyes with Leo. "If anything happens to him, you all are grounded. For the rest of your lives." Leo gulped. Splinter looked back at Raphael. "You may go, but only if your brothers agree to it. And you hold hands with Leonardo the entire time. Stay on the rooftops, and do not be seen."

Donnie facepalmed, Leo's jaw was on the floor, and Mikey gave Raph a high-three.

_This was going to be a blast... NOT! _

* * *

"Why on Earth did you agree to this?" Donnie groaned, shooting his best exasperated look at both of his brothers. Leo returned his stare evenly back, although it was kind of hard for Donnie to take him seriously with a squealing turtle tot sliding down his shell as they roof hopped.

Mikey grinned from the other side of Leo. "He's just so cute! How can you say no to those wittle chubby cheeks?"

"I can't believe you wanted to babysit MORE! This was supposed to be a BREAK!" Donnie threw his hands up in the air. Leo skidded to a stop as Raph kicked his heels against Leo's plastron, allowing his brother to slide off.

"I love it up here!" Raph squealed. Leo tried to cover up his smile.

_So worth it._

"You can never come up here by yourself, okay, Raph?" Leo instructed. Raph nodded and beamed up at his brothers before running around in circles on the roof, leaning over the sides to look down at the sidewalks below.

"Hey, Raph?" Mikey giggled. Raph turned around, and Leo looked over with suspicious as Mikey started to cackle. "Aren't you supposed to be holding Leo's hand?" Raph's eyes lit up; he ran over, grabbed Leo's hand, then pulled him back over to the edge of the roof. Leo rolled his eyes back at Mikey.

"Why don't you two go get dinner? Raph hasn't tried pizza gyoza yet." Donnie shrugged at Mikey, and they hopped down the fire escape. Raph jerked Leo's attention back down to a flickering light in one of the shops below, and Leo almost didn't hear the soft footsteps behind him. He swung out his katana, shoving Raph behind his leg and Karai brought down her weapon on Leo's.

"Well, Leo, looks like you actually decided to show up for our 'date' after all." She danced back, a feral grin on her face. Leo's cheeks flushed slightly.

"I've been a little busy at the moment. I'm sure you know how it is." Raph stepped out from behind Leo's legs, eyes lit up as the teenagers brought their swords crashing into one another again. Karai looked at the gaping child and winked at him.

"Raphie! Hey!" She lowered one sword and held out an arm. Raph brushed past Leo and ran to give her a hug.

"Raph! Get back here!" Leo said, holding out a hand towards the turtle tot. Karai smirked over Raph's head as she handed the child two toy cars to play with. Leo narrowed his eyes.

"Here, you go play while Leo and I talk." When Raph didn't move, she wrinkled up her nose. "You know. Boring adult stuff. Not much fun, in my opinion." Her interest in the little turtle and what looked like... care? was genuine. Leo could see it in her eyes. Raph ran off to the edge of the roof and plopped down, driving the cars across the wall and making crashing noises. Karai's focus turned back to Leo. "Yes, I can see you have been busy. How'd that happen?" She jerked her head towards Raph and lodged an attack.

Leo raised a katana and parried. "Last time I checked, Karai, it's none of your business about what happens to my family!" Leo growled.

Karai smirked. "But it's the business of those weird, alien robots?" Her grin widened as Leo went silent. "Got it." Raph ran over as Karai held the tip of her sword to Leo's plastron.

"'Rai! Do you wanna play?" Raph squealed, not even noticing Leo's compromised state. Karai's grip on the hilt tightened.

"You gonna kill me in front of a baby, Karai?" Leo snarled under his break, eyebrow cocked. Karai raised an eyebrow in return, spinning around and using her elbow to fling Leo back, sheathing her swords as he stumbled. She knelt down in front of Raph and held out a hand.

"Sure. Give me a car." She grinned lightly as Raph rolled one in her direction. "Vroom!" She trilled, getting up and driving the car in circles around Raph. He toddled after her, giggling.

Leo stumbled back towards his brother but did nothing. He watched, occasionally snorting as Raph would trip. He kept both eyes on Karai, watching to see if she would try any sort of tricks, and both ears out listening for Donnie and Mikey to return. He kept his katanas dangling loosely from his fingertips. Leo heard two familiar voices in the distance and stiffened.

"Karai, my brothers are coming." She nodded, handing Raph back the car and standing up.

"Bye, Raph, Leo." She dashed off, hopping delicately on the roof edge. "Oh, and Raphie? If you ever wanna join me and my family, you're welcome to come over and play." She waved at Raph and blew a kiss at Leo, winking. She flipped down and disappeared just as Donnie and Mikey showed up.

"Leo! We got pizza gyoza, just like you said!" Mikey exclaimed, shaking the steaming box at Leo. Leo was in a daze, staring after Karai. "Leo. Leo. Leo." The orange clad turtle poked his big brother's bicep with a devilish grin.

"What?" Leo snapped. He turned towards Raph and held out a hand. "Come on, Raph. Let's go home."

"But I don't wanna go!" Raph wailed; Leo swooped him up anyway and starting running in the opposite direction of Karai. Donnie and Mikey exchanged funny looks before sprinting to try and catch up.

"Leo," Donnie asked. "What's wrong?" Raph was pouting over Leo's shoulder, still clutching Karai's toy cars.

"I saw Foot Clan." Leo said tightly. He glanced at Donnie before leaping down the fire escape and ducking into the sewers. Raph dropped one of the trucks as Leo jumped in and howled. Leo didn't stop to go back and grab it.

Mikey bent down to pick it up. "Funny," he said. "I don't remember this car..."

* * *

**Hope y'all enjoyed. Now we're finally getting to the good parts... :) R&amp;R! Have a good day, everyone! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Tbh if I said I didn't mean to wait so long before updating, y'all probably wouldn't believe me, LOL. But here's the update now, and that's what matters, right? **

**There's a pretty important author's note at the end of the chapter. And here's a reminder that I don't own the turtles! **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

After a delicious dinner of pizza gyoza, Raph hyped up again. In fact, he made a bigger mess that night than any of the days before.

This, of course, did _not _make his brothers very happy.

At all.

Leo was exhausted, and still edgy about the whole Karai business. Donnie was busy locking up any spare bit of technology he could find in the lab so Raph wouldn't break _more_ of it. Even Mikey's temper was beginning to flare, because Raph kept pulling his bandana down over his eyes and then trying to choke him with it.

"That's IT!" Mikey yelled. Leo's head snapped up and his jaw dropped; Donnie ran into the lab's doorframe out of surprise. Raph's eyes widened in surprise from where he was jumping up and down behind Mikey and tugging on his bandana tails. "He needs a time out!"

_Geez_, Leo thought. _Who would've thought that Mikey'd be the first to crack?_

_Thank God it wasn't me_.. Donnie silently prayed.

Raph's eyes were wide, and he slowly slid to the floor and gulped. He looked up at his other brothers and then at his father who had silently appeared in the doorway during Mikey's outburst.

"I second that notion!" Donnie chimed in. Leo raised a hand wearily and nodded. Splinter raised an eyebrow and turned to his (now) youngest.

"Raphael, go to time out." Splinter ordered firmly.

Raph's eye ridges knit together. "No!" He scowled and stomped his foot. Splinter crossed his arms, and Raph threw himself to the ground and began beating the floor with his fists and feet.

"Go on, Raphael," Leo sighed, running a hand over his face. "Go do what Sensei said."

"No! No! I won't, you... You jerk! Shut up!" Raph screamed. Leo jerked back in surprise, and Donnie's jaw dropped. Mikey muffled a giggle. Splinter stalked over to the tantrum throwing turtle and gripped his carapace, pulling him to his feet.

"Raphael! You may not speak to your brother in that manner. You will apologize to Leonardo, then go sit in time out for 15 minutes." Splinter snapped. Raph huffed and crossed his arms over his plastron, and Splinter raised an eyebrow. "You shall also say your 'no anger' statement. After this, you will go straight to bed, no playing." Raph kicked at the pillow closest to him, and Splinter sighed, pinching his nose.

"Sensei," Leo began. His father looked down at his eldest son. "I'll put Raph to bed, and I'll make sure he does everything he's supposed to."

Splinter nodded. "Very well. Thank you, my son." He looked down with a pointed look at Raph. "And I expect you to have a better attitude in the morning, Raphael." He turned and left, silently thanking Leo for the bit of peace he'd been given.

"Raph," Leo said and pointed to the far corner of the sewer. "Go get in time out." When Raph ignored him, Leo played the dad card. "Don't make me get Sensei again. I'm sure he'd be very annoyed if we disturbed his meditation again."

Raph stomped all the way to the corner and plopped down. He started to turn around, and Leo shook his head. Raph scowled and turned so his beak was touching the wall.

Leo plopped back down next to Donnie with a sigh. Mikey collapsed in his brothers' laps. "Whew! I think that went well!" Screams and the sound of fists hitting metal answered him. Donnie rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, setting a timer for the 15 minutes.

It was the most peace that had ever been in the lair in those next 15 minutes. Even Raph seemed to realize what a big accomplishment this was, because even he stopped screaming after a few minutes. No words were spoken until the timer buzzed.

Mikey jerked awake from the half asleep stupor he'd fallen into. He shared a horrified glance with Donnie as Leo called Raph over to them.

The pouting toddler had a face like thunder.

"Raph, come here. Say your little..." Leo shot a questioning look at Donnie, who shrugged. "Your little anger thingie Sensei was talking about."

Raph crossed his arms and looked away. "Being angry helps no one and nothing." He muttered.

Leo knelt down in front of his brother and put a hand cupping his ear. "What's that? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

Raph narrowed his eyes into slits. "Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah huh!"

"No, Raph, I didn't."

"You did too!"

"I did no such thing!"

Raph opened his mouth to retort something again and Donnie cut in.

"Okay!" Donnie clapped his hands together and forcing a big, fake smile on his face. "I heard it. Just go to bed, Raph; I'll be checking to make sure you're asleep later." Raph stalked off to his bedroom and slammed the door.

Leo sighed and rolled his eyes. Yep, this was definitely the Raph they knew and loved.

Mikey yawned. "I'm beat. I guess I'll see you guys in the morning." Donnie mumbled something along the same lines and headed off to his lab, picking up and twirling one last piece of God knows what.

Leo turned on the TV; since Raph had been mutated again, he hadn't been able to watch Space Heroes in a bit.

He watched a bit aimlessly for a bit before casually thinking, Raph would've said how stupid this show was. His eyes grew wide. "Raph!"

He rushed to Raph's room, only to stumble upon the sleeping tot on the floor, gripping one of his toy cars. Leo breathed a sigh of relief and dumped him onto his bed. He turned around and snuck back outside, turning off the TV and silently padding to his room. Almost immediately, Leo fell asleep.

Survive another day with kid Raph: Check.

* * *

**Hope y'all liked it! Again, sorry for taking forever! :) Thanks for your patience!**

**Btws - I know this chapter is pretty short, but the next one is pretty long, because it's the biggest part of the story! (Shh. Spoilers!)**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think this is pretty important, if I do say so myself, and I think y'all would like the heads up? I'm going to change my username. Why? There is this girl I know in real life who plans on getting an account here, and I am absolutely terrified of what would happen if she found me. She would never let me live it down. This is simply a safety precaution, and one day, I may end up changing it back. But for now, I'm going to change it. That's why I updated, to let y'all know. Sorry if I ruin brand recognition or anything, haha. Thanks, everyone! :)**

**Previous username: OneCutePug**


	9. Chapter 9

**Whups, another belated update. Oops. I was cleaning out my bookshelf today and found a bunch of old fanfics I never posted. So y'all might be getting a bunch of new fics soon. Cool, huh?**

**Hope you enjoy and that things in life are going great for y'all! :)**

* * *

"Daddy? Daddy, where are you? I'm scared." Raph whispered, cowering down behind a trash can. Why oh why did he have to go to the surface again? Shadows were chasing in on him. "Mikey! 'Nie?" He gulped. "Leo?" A dark laugh echoed around him, and Raph scampered back as a huge figure towered over him.

"You will never escape me!" The figure sneered. He raised a hand, knives glinting in the dark, and swung.

"Help me!" Raph screamed.

Raph shot up in bed and shrieked. He burrowed back down under his blankets, because maybe, just maybe, the mean man would leave him alone if he couldn't see him. A lone tear slipped down his cheek and splashed on his plastron; this nightmare scared him more than any of the others.

He slipped out of his bed and padded outside to go find one of his brothers. Maybe they'd let him sleep with them, if he promised not to snore. Donnie's lab's light shone faintly from underneath the door, and Raph hesitantly knocked on it. There was no answer; where was Donnie? The tears slipped down Raph's face even faster now, and still Donnie didn't come.

He ran to Mikey's room. The door was cracked, so he let himself in. "Mikey?" He whispered. He snuck up next to the bed and shook the lump on the bed. "Mikey, wake up!" He cried.

"Go 'way," Mikey sleep-muttered. He half waved a hand to push whoever was interrupting his much needed sleep away. He rolled over with a snore, shutting Raph out. Raph ran out, sobbing harder.

Leo's door was shut tight and bolted, and when Raph went to go look in his father's room, it was empty.

Raph curled up into a ball on the couch. "Nobody loves me anymo'. Nobody understands me!" He stifled a wail and slowly got up; he trudged out of the lair. Using the way he snuck out of the sewers last time, he hid topside in an alley, letting himself cry freely.

He almost didn't notice the girl who leapt down gently beside him.

"Raphael? What's wrong?" Karai knelt down next to the tot. He looked up at her blearily and flung himself into her lap. She grimaced before gently stroking his head. Of all the things she was trained in, comforting a crying kid was not one of them!

"My family doesn't wuv me anymore!" He wailed. "I got sent to time out!" She stifled a cruel laugh. If only he knew what sort of punishments her father had done to her when she got into trouble as a kid.

"It's okay, shh." She cooed, lifting up his chin to look at her. "Why don't you come join my family then?" She asked. He sniffled and wiped his tears and snot away with the back of his hand. He hiccuped, and Karai wrinkled up her nose.

_Gross_.

"I can join your family?" He repeated. She nodded, and he screwed up his beak in thought. "Okay, sista!" He grinned up at her. "I always wanted a big sista!"

Karai smiled back down. "Well now you have one!" Raph beamed, all traces of tears gone. She hoisted him up on her shoulders and scaled up the fire escape to the roof. He clung on to her neck and giggled every time she jumped roofs. When she finally reached her home, she slid Raph off and down in front of her.

"Are we here?"

"Yes, we are. But I just want to warn you, Raphael, that-"

"Raphie."

"What?"

"You can call me Raphie now. We're family!" He beamed up at her, eyes wide and innocent, and she could feel her willpower melt a little inside.

Did she really want to do this to him? To raise him like her father raised her? Soon enough that innocence would be gone from his eyes, and he'd never be the same.

"Okay... Raphie," she began slowly. "I just want to warn you that my dad is a little scary sometimes." He frowned but nodded, and she slipped through the open window.

The room was very big and very dark. Raph shivered a little, and Karai clutched him closer against her leg. A lone figure sat in a high throne at the head of the room, and Raph shrank back even farther. 'Rai's dad -his new dad- didn't seem like a very nice man.

"Karai," the figure boomed and stood up. He approached his daughter, but still stayed in the shadows. "What is this?"

Karai knelt down, pushing Raph down onto his knees next to her. "Father. This is a turtle." She kept her head down as her father unsheathed a sword and pointed it at Raph.

"You let a _turtle _in here?" He boomed, eyes narrowing in hatred and anger.

"No!" Karai shouted, pushing Raph behind her. "It's just a child. We can raise him as one of our own." In her haste to defend, Raph slid a knife from her belt, gripping it clumsily.

After all, he wasn't a ninja yet.

"My name is Raphael!" Raph yelled. He pointed the knife at the Shredder. "Don't touch Karai!"

Shredder's eyes narrowed, and he chuckled darkly. "He has got guts to stand up to me." Turning to Raph, he sheathed his sword. "Raphael, why do you want to join the Foot?"

Raph frowned. "My family doesn't love me anymore. I wanna have a family that does."

Karai butt in. "He is one of the four. He... Is the only changed one? Those robot aliens did something to him. This is the red turtle, the fighter."

Shredder nodded, effectively silencing her. "Karai." She straightened up immediately. "You shall be his trainer. And Raphael," Shredder rested a hand on the tot's shoulder.

"Welcome to the Foot clan, my son."

* * *

"Raph! Raphie! Where are you?"

"Raph? This isn't funny anymore. Come out now!"

"Raphael? My son, where are you?"

"Please, Raph! Come out?" The entire family was out searching for Raph, even Splinter.

"You found him yet?" Donnie asked Leo hopefully. Leo shook his head. "Where the shell is he?"

Mikey shrugged. "I didn't find him either." He frowned and smacked a hand over his eyes.

"Raphael is not in the lair." Three pairs of eyes flitted to their father's in confusion. "His scent trail is old; he hasn't been down here since last night." Splinter wearily said. "He has gone above."

"He's DEAD?!" Mikey shrieked. Donnie smacked the back of his head.

"No!" Donnie yelled. His eyes lit up in fear as Splinter's words finally sank in. "But he IS somewhere alone in NYC?!" Donnie gasped.

"Come on! We have to go get him! Now!" Leo ordered. None of them noticed April walk in, holding a toy car.

"Hey, guys. I found one of Raphie's toys; I guessed he dropped it sometime. It was in the sewers." The two oldest flew by her, not even giving her a second glance.

Mikey snatched the car from her hands. "Hi, April! Bye, April!" They were gone in an instant, leaving a dumbfounded April alone with Splinter.

"Was it something I said?"

* * *

"Guys! Over here!" Leo had found another toy truck; it was underneath a rusty ladder leading to a cracked sewer lid. "Guys! He really is topside!"

"Poor Raph. He's probably so scared... Aww..." Mikey cried.

"We have to find him! Let's go!" Leo, Mikey, and Donnie crawled out into the alley. Donnie almost tripped over another toy car.

It was Raph's last one, and it was the blue, his favorite.

"He was here!" Donnie shouted. Muddy footprints were all over the alleyway.

Leo bent down and examined the tracks on the ground. "Yeah, and so was someone else!"

Mikey tried to follow the footprints, but they just led across the rooftops. The trio raced along them, which led them to an ornate abandoned building with cracked windows at the top. The boys stopped in their tracks.

"Guys," Donnie said slowly. "This is Shredder's lair!"

* * *

**See, I did say big things were coming! These next few chapters are going to be the climax of the story, so get ready! This is just the tip of the ice burg! :) **

**Hope y'all liked it, R&amp;R! **


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited with how fast I updated. Hope y'all are too, haha. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed; you guys have definitely boosted my motivation to hurry this fic up and finish it!**

**I hope y'all enjoy; And remember, I don't own any ninja turtles!**

* * *

Raph turned to Karai. "When can we start training? What weapons can I have?" He bounced up and down in excitement.

"You will train with the sai. And we will begin your training now."

* * *

"Now, try to poke me with them. Again." Karai brandished another pair of gleaming sai from the weapons shelf on the wall. She demonstrated the simple move once more and handed them to Raph. He clutched at them clumsily, staring at his reflection on them in awe. "You try."

"Hi-YA!" He yelled as he jabbed at her. She moved swiftly out of the way, and Raph beamed up at her. Karai sighed. "How was that, 'Rai?"

_Just as bad as the first million times. Ugh._

"Fix your footing. Now, after you do the jab, roll into a forward roll, stand up, and then try to stab me again." She demonstrated slowly, enunciating each step and watching the tot out of the corner of her eye to make sure he was paying attention. "Try it."

Raph jabbed out, clumsily rolled, staggered about as he got up, and poked at Karai again. The tip of his tongue was peeking out in concentration.

Karai shook her head, using all her willpower not to let her frustration show. "Again."

"Can we be done?" Raph whined, slowly twirling the sai in his hands. Karai was mildly impressed at how well he was doing it; it must've been muscle memory or something.

"No!" She barked. "Not until you get it perfect." Raph balked, and Karai groaned inwardly.

"We've been practicing all night! I'm sleepy!" He complained, stomping his foot. Karai facepalmed.

_How had that rat done it? _She thought wearily.

"My old family wouldn't have made me do this," Raph pointed out, crossing his arms and huffing. He threw the sai on the ground and scowled up at his new Sensei.

Karai about lost it. "Well, you know what? They don't love you. They didn't want you to be the best!" Karai threw up her hands and paced around the turtle. "We just want you to be the best; isn't that what you want? To be better than your brothers? To be better than Leo?" She leaned down and handed the sai back to him. "Do it again. Pretend it's your own family."

Raph narrowed his eyes, and with a screech, did the entire motion perfect and fluently.

"There you go! Good." Karai sighed in relief. "We will resume your training tomorrow afternoon. It's late. Good night." She bowed towards him, and he bowed awkwardly back. She turned to walk to her father's throne room, but a small voice peeped out from behind her.

"Rai, can you tuck me in?" Raph asked, looking smaller than ever before. Karai blinked.

"Tuck you in?" She repeated. Raph puffed out his lower lip and made his eyes as big as they could go, and Karai could feel her willpower begin to crack.

"Pwease?"

Karai rolled onto her heels. "Ninjas don't get tucked in, you know." She prodded him in the direction of his room, and Raph grabbed her hand and swung it.

"This ninja does!" He beamed. She fought the urge to smile and shooed him into his room.

* * *

Karai waited until the turtle was sound asleep before going off into the city. She wanted to see Leo... Were they looking for Raph yet?

It was time to see if his brothers truly did care or not.

She heard a faint voice, laced with worry, call out and stopped in her tracks. The voice mumbled something out, and then another one said, "Where could he be?" Karai smirked and flipped through the air to land in front of three startled teenagers.

"Karai!" Leo unsheathed his katanas, his brothers following his lead. They stood side by side, only the whites of their eyes showing. "What did you do with Raph?" Donnie growled something under his breath that Karai missed, and Mikey frowned.

"Little Raphie? Oh, I didn't do anything to him. Why, what's wrong?" She asked innocently. "Is he missing or something? Shouldn't you have been watching him?" Donnie narrowed his eyes and stepped forward.

"Let me see the bottom of your shoes." Karai rolled her eyes.

"I shouldn't have to deal with this. I have bigger things to focus on." She turned to leave, but Leo grabbed her upper arm, and she turned around and snarled.

"Just let him see the bottom of your shoe, Karai. If you're innocent, then it shouldn't matter to you." Leo spoke calmly, but the fury was evident in his voice.

Karai crossed her arms but kicked her foot up into Donnie's face. He examined it for a moment before nodding and pushing it away.

"Fine. Now get out of my sight."

Karai smirked. "Told ya." She turned and sprinted off, becoming a small speck in the distance until she disappeared altogether.

Donnie turned to face his brothers. "Guys, she's the one. Her shoes are caked in mud, even though it's dry now. Let's get her!" He tried to follow the direction she went, but Leo jerked him back.

"No, Donnie. We have to wait. We can't just rush into this. We need a plan."

"Are you crazy?" Donnie yelled. "Wait? They've got our baby brother, Leo. They could be torturing him! He's just a BABY!"

"They're hurting Raphie?" Mikey whispered, looking pale.

Leo shook his head. "They wouldn't do that. What they would do is almost worse; they'd train him to be just like Karai." Donnie's eyes widened.

"No! They'd turn him into a girl?" Mikey gasped.

"They'd train him to be a Foot ninja, shellbrains!" Donnie said sarcastically, smacking the back of his head. Mikey huffed.

"No need to act like Raph while he's gone, Donnie. You'll never be him." Donnie balked.

"I wasn't-"

Mikey cut him off. "How are we going to get him back?"

Leo looked back and forth between his brothers, frowning. "Look, we'll never be able to get Raph back if we can't get along. But I may just have a plan!" Leo said, a small, but evil, grin on his face.

Donnie and Mikey exchanged glances and gulped.

* * *

"Father!" Karai burst into the lair. "The other turtles are out looking for Raphael. Why don't we lay out a trap?"

Her father's eyes gleamed in the dark, and he nodded. "Trap the turtles once and for all? It's the best idea you've had all morning, Karai." He snarled. She lowered her head in respect. "Get that turtle brat; we're having turtle soup tonight."

* * *

**This upcoming chapter is honestly my favorite in the whole story! I can't wait to post it. Plus, I've had a few questions about how Karai truly feels about Raph. In my mind, I think she really does like the tot and is starting to grow fond of him. (After all, who wouldn't?) But I think she also doesn't want to let herself get too close, because she knows that one day his brothers are going to get him back, or he'll grow up like she did. I don't think she necessarily wants that either. **

**When I first wrote the story, I had it so she was immediately and completely in love with him. Now, as I'm going back and typing it up, I'm editing it so she's not quite as fond of him. Which is why you can sometimes see the contrasting styles. Basically, just picture it as Karai is someone who really loves people but is afraid to show it for fear they'll reject her. I think that happened with Shredder a lot as a kid, too. **

**Sorry for ranting, just wanted to clear up any confusion! Hope y'all liked it! R&amp;R! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter and this next one are my two favorites! Remember, I don't own anything/one! We're starting to get close to the ending though! :(**

**Hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Mikey asked cautiously. "'Cuz this doesn't seem like a good plan to me!" Leo nudged him in the side and Mikey yelped.

"Shut up! I'm trying to finish this!" Donnie interrupted. "If I mess up even a drop of this solution, Raph would never come back!"

"Wait, since when have you know what that stuff was made of?" Leo asked. He bent over and skimmed over the papers spread out all over Donnie's desk, backing away with disgust at all the messy sketches and numbers written in every which way. "You know, I don't care as long as you get it."

"Well, I guess your non-caring is up, then! I finished the antidote!" Donnie grinned and stood up, stretching.

"Yay!" Mikey cheered. Leo turned toward Mikey and smiled, high-threeing his brother.

"What about the other ooze? The one that turned Raph into a kid- have you finished recreating it? Are we-"

"The kidooze?" Mikey blurted out. "See, it's ooze, and you turn into a kid when you get it on you, and so-"

"We get it!" Donnie sighed, exasperated. "Yes, Leo, I finished that, too. I had some left over that I got from Raph the first time."

"Why did you recreate that?" Mikey scooted closer down the desk to Donnie.

Leo and Donnie exchanged glances before smirking and advancing towards Mikey. Mikey hopped down and tried to back away.

"Guys? What are you doing?" Leo paused in front of Mikey and grinned.

"Making a distraction." Donnie snuck up on Mikey's right and stuck him with a needle.

"Ow!" Mikey whined. "Donnie! What did you do that for?" He puffed out his lower lip. "Can I at least have a band-aid?" Leo picked one up from Donnie's desk and smacked it on Mikey's arm. "Can you kiss it to make it better?" Leo pressed his lips to it quickly before backing up next to Donnie.

"Quick, we don't have much time. I stuck you with the kidooze. You're going to be a distraction while we sneak out Raph. In a few minutes, the new chemicals in the ooze will start mixing in with your cells, and they will react by changing them into that of a, uh, whatever age you become."

Mikey's jaw dropped. "But I don't wanna be a kid!" He wailed.

"Trust me, we do NOT want you to be a kid, either. We'll give you the antidote after Raph is okay." Leo explained.

"I wasn't _that_ bad!" Mikey protested. Donnie burst into peals of laughter, hunched over.

"Are you kidding? You were the worst one out of us!" Donnie giggled.

"Poor Splinter!" Leo joined in, giggling.

"Hey!" Mikey frowned, before clutching his stomach in pain. "Ow!" He made a face, and Donnie's eyes lit up.

"It's starting!" Donnie shooed Mikey to his room. "Don't come out until you good and a kid!" He shut the door behind him and turned back to his only brother left.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Leo asked.

Donnie shrugged. "Let's improvise!" He snickered at Leo's pale face. "I'm just messing around with you, Leo. Chill."

"That's not funny, Donatello." Leo scowled. "I'm serious." Donnie laughed.

"Well, what did you have in mind, then?" Donnie asked.

"Easy. We're gonna let off Mikey into the city. Karai's probably out looking for us again, and she'll stumble upon him, and take him back to their headquarters. We'll follow them and sneak in, injecting Raph and Mikey with the antidote."

"What about after that?" Donnie asked, incredulously.

Leo screwed up his beak. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Fight our way out?"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Fight, fight, fight. You sound like Raph." Donnie turned away from his and picked up two syringes, sticking them into the glittering, silver antidote and filling them up.

Leo frowned. "If you weren't doing that I'd smack you."

"See! Again!" Donnie stuck a cap on the needles and tucked them into his bag. He stood up, facing Leo. "Just like Raph."

Leo, eyes twinkling and a dark grin on his face, pulled back a fist to jokingly hit Donnie's cheek, but a squeak of surprise stopped him.

"Leo! 'Nie! Pwease don't fight! Pway with me instead!" Two equal groans escaped from the older turtles' mouths as a young turtle tot scampered over. "Pway with me!" Mikey tugged on Donnie's knee pad, causing it to fall down. He hitched it back up with a pointed look at Leo.

Leo faked a grin at the tot. "Mikey! We can play later, we are looking for Raph. He's gone topside, and we have to find him before anything bad happens to him!"

"He went topside? Whoa!" Mikey breathed. "Raphie's so brave! I wanna go, too!" Donnie shook his head.

"No, you're too little. 'Don't' follow us. We'll be back later. And then we'll play anything you want, promise." Leo and Donnie turned and ran off into the sewers, leaving behind one mischievous tot.

* * *

"Told ya Mikey would disobey orders." Leo half-smirked at Donnie as they watched Mikey crawl out of the sewers and into the alley. Donnie rolled his eyes and shoved at Leo.

"Whatever. I told _you_ that the kidooze would totally work." Donnie was cut off when a clad of foot ninjas silently surrounded Mikey. Mikey cowered a bit and whimpered.

"Give me back my brother!" His voice quivered and tears threatened to cascade down his freckles. The Foot ninja closest to him picked him up and everyone faded out. "Help me!"

"Come on!" Leo urged, and the pair ran after them. Donnie sprinted besides Leo and flashed him a smile.

"Who knew we'd ever rescue Raph of all people!" Donnie laughed. He wasn't paying attention, and stepped off the building."

"DONNIE!" Leo screamed. He lunged forward and gripped the edge of his shell. Donnie looked up, half sheepish, half scared. Leo flipped him up onto his back next to him. "Don't ever do that again! We can't have you out of commission, too!"

Donnie stood up, still a bit wobbly, but took off running. He tried to tune out Leo's lecture as they finally reached the Shredder's lair.

"And if you were hurt, then how on Earth would we supposed to be able to-"

Donnie was saved from the rest of Leo's lecture when they heard a squeal. "Mikey!" He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Raph! Raph! I found you!" Leo and Donnie peeked in through the cracked window into the dark throne room below them. They could see the orange banded turtle tot running toward another turtle who was sitting alone in the middle of the room.

"Mikey?" Raph turned around. "What are you doing here? I ran away!"

"I missed you!" Mikey threw his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Why did you run away?"

"Nobody loves me." Raph said sadly, his face downcast. Mikey rested his head on Raph's shoulder and grabbed his hand.

"I love you." He said simply.

"Join me! Join my new family!" Raph offered. "I have a sister now! And they're already training me to be a ninja... With Sai!" Mikey nodded super quickly.

"Okay!" Mikey said, pulling Raph up. "Let's go play!" They both turned to run out and play, but. huge man blocked the doorway.

"And where are you going?" The Shredder boomed, and Mikey cowered behind Raph.

"We're gonna go play!"

"No, you're going to do much worse than play." He reached out and grabbed their shells, holding one turtle in each hand.

Leo tensed, and put on hand on his katana. Donnie laid a hand on his brother's arms and held up one finger to signal to wait.

"Hey!" Raph growled indignantly. "Put me down! Now!"

The Shredder snarled. "You insolent brat! Did you ever think you would be in the Foot? Even your own kind doesn't want you. Nobody does." Raph's face shone with sorrow and hurt, and this time, Donnie was the one who almost lunged inside.

"You're mean!" Mikey yelled. He did his best to twist around and kicked Shredder in the shin. He dropped the turtles on reflex and grabbed his leg. "Raphie! Come on!"

Mikey grabbed Raph's hand and tried to pull him away. The pitter-patter of little feet woke up the Foot, who appeared out of the shadows and tried to grab the tots as they ran by.

"Now!" Donnie hissed. Leo flipped through the window, landing in front of his cowering brothers. Donnie landed next to them, and they both raced to grab onto his legs. Donnie laid a hand on both of their heads and looked at Leo.

"You'll have to go through me to get to them first!" Leo snarled as he unsheathed his katana.

* * *

**Little Mikey... Bet y'all didn't expect that! :3 Hope you liked it! R&amp;R! :)**

**BUT REAL TALK: If Master Splinter got into the kidooze (which I pronounce it more like cud-ooze because I say it super fast in my mind), would he turn into a mini rat or a human, because he didn't grow up a mutant. Things to think about...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Dang, this chapter is super short, but I wanted to end it on a mild cliffhanger. I'm going on vacation this week, so I probably won't be updating anytime soon. Sorry! **

**Hope y'all enjoy. R&amp;R please! :) **

* * *

"Leo!" Mikey's cheered. "Save us!" Raph looked up at Leo with wide, solemn eyes.

"You won't get away with this!" Donnie snarled from behind Leo. He yanked Mikey's arm over his head, checking his side for any wounds and scratches. Mikey whined in protest and tried to pull away.

Leo charged with a deep cry, and a wave of Foot ninjas came up to attack. "Donnie! Hurry up and give them the antidote!" Leo raised up his katana to block a strike against him, the clang of metal effectively cutting off his next order. Donnie tuned him out and turned back to his little brothers.

"Okay, Mikey, I've got to give you this shot. It's got medicine in it to make you strong." Mikey's eyes went wide in fear.

"Will it hurt? 'Nie, I'm scared." Tears started welling up in his eyes, and Donnie inwardly groaned. He never did handle kids crying very well.

"No, it won't hurt a bit. You can hold me hand and squeeze it as hard as you want." Donnie held out his hand, and Mikey gripped it, eyes clenched shut. Raph watched his brother, trying to pretend like he wasn't scared.

"Are you sure?" Mikey whimpered. Donnie nodded, and Mikey held out his arm, turning his face into Raph's shoulder. Donnie pinched his arm and injected the antidote in.

"See? All done." Mikey leaned back, cautiously opening his eyes, and a bright orange flash enveloped him. Donnie shielded his and Raph's eyes.

"Booyakasha, dude!" The light ebbed away to reveal Mikey's normal 15 year old self. "I'm backkkkkkk!" Donnie rolled his eyes and grinned. He tossed him his nunchucks. Mikey raced out to join Leo.

Leo looked at his brother with a huge grin. "Took ya long enough." Mikey beamed in response and fist-bumped him before twirling his nunchucks and leaping off into the fray.

"That was fun! I should totally be a kid more often!"

Donnie rolled his eyes at his baby brother's antics and turned to Raph. He pulled out the second syringe from his bag and uncapped it, making sure everything was prepped and ready to go.

"Raphie? It's your turn. Can I have your arm now?"

Raph shook his head, and Donnie frowned.

"Don't you want to fight with your family?"

"But... _They_ are my family now." Raph shuffled his feet and looked down. "Not you."

Donnie could feel his heart shatter and break into a million little pieces.

"But why? Why would you run away?"

"Nobody loves me! Nobody would help me!" Raph wailed and threw himself into Donnie's arms, who awkwardly cradled his little brother. "I had a nightmare," Raph whispered against Donnie's plastron.

"Mikey loves you. Leo may seem not to show it at times, but he loves you. Splinter does, too! And I love you, Raph." Raph peeked up. "We all do, Raphie, I promise. Come back." Raph lunged up and threw his arms around Donnie's neck, resting his head in the crook of his shoulder.

"Will you make me strong now?" Raph's voice was muffled. "Though I already am super duper strong. Even stronger than Leo!" He boasted. Donnie clenched his brother tight one last time (God knows normal Raph would never hug him like this) and injected the antidote into his upper arm.

A red light enveloped the littlest turtle, and when it faded away, it left the Raph his brothers knew and loved still frozen in hugging his brother.

Raph pulled back and threw his brother in a headlock. "Thanks, Donnie." He gave him a noogie, to which Donnie laughed and shoved him away. Donnie rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a pair of shiny metal Sai, and Raph's eyes lit right up. He offered Donnie a hand and pulled him up off of the ground; with a wicked grin, they both ran over to Leo and Mikey, who were both busy dicing up Foot ninjas.

Shredder howled in anger. "You took the one who would have caused your downfall!"

Raph twirled his Sai and stepped into a defensive position like the rest of his brothers. "Sorry to burst your bubble."

Mikey nudged him. "Dude, you're not sorry at all!" Leo shushed them both, after throwing a happy look at Raph.

"Wait! Father!" Karai burst in the wide, metal doors. "Let me talk to the turtle before you use him!" She blew past Raph, knocking his shoulder.

"Hey! Watch it!" Raph spat. "Nobody was talking to you!"

Karai skidded to a stop. "Excuse me? Well, we all knew turtles are rude, but I believe you just took the cake." She still hadn't turned around, remaining frozen, scanning the room for a turtle tot. "And which one are you? Picasso?"

"The name's Raphael."

* * *

**Everyone's normal again! I'm feeling kinda bittersweet about it, honestly. I love baby Raph &amp; Mikey. And oh no, poor Karai. I wonder how she's gonna react to this. What do y'all think? Anyway, hope everyone has a great day/night! Leave any comments or constructive criticism you have for me! And because I didn't say it earlier, I don't own the TMNT! **

**(Also, I just recently rewatched the 2007 movie. Yeah, totally still crying over that. So if anyone has any awesome 2k7 fic recs, HMU! :3) **


	13. Chapter 13

**THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER EVERYONE! Dang, I didn't realize I was _this_ close to being done, but apparently I was. Otherwise I'd've given you guys a heads up! Lol. There will be one more chapter posted, an epilogue, that I have to type up and finish. I'm currently typing this up on the road home, so sorry for any spelling errors!**

**I know it's also pretty short; I had to cut some stuff out because I felt it went better in the epilogue. Sorry!**

**Hope y'all enjoy. R&amp;R!**

* * *

"Raphael?" Karai turned around and gaped at him. Raph scowled and crossed his arms, green eyes flashing.

"I ain't a zoo animal; quit gawking at me!" Karai had the decency to close her mouth and glance towards the other turtles. As she met eye contact with Leo, he could see in her eyes just how shook up she was.

"I, uh, just wanted to give this back to you. It's yours." She held out her hand and peeked back up to the former tot. In it, a scratched, beat up toy car was being offered to Raph. Behind her, Shredder did a quick hand motion, and he and the Foot ninjas all disappeared. All of Karai's focus was on Raph, eyes full of hope.

Raph's face went completely devoid of emotion. Slowly, he reached out for it...

"Are you kidding me?!" He whacked it out of her hand, and it smacked against the wall. A tire rolled off, signifying the broken friendship. "It's over! All of it!"

Karai's eyes hardened, marble; she unsheathed her swords and charged. Leo tensed, but Donnie laid a hand on his arm.

"This isn't your fight," he whispered. "Raph can handle it." Leo looked at his little brother, frowned, but relaxed. There was no denying the wisdom in Donnie's eyes.

As predicted, Raph ran up to meet her, blocking her blades with his Sai. "You were just a worthless little kid," Karai sneered. "And nobody wanted you."

"Liar!" Raph snarled. "Just because your father doesn't love you, doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

Karai growled. "My father does love me!" She retorted, baring her teeth.

"Oh really?" Raph taunted. "Then where is he, huh?" He stepped back and jabbed around. Karai whipped around, looking for support, but there was no sign of her father. "He's gone. He left you. You call that love?" He sneered. Karai flung away the Sai and sliced Raph's cheek with the tip of her blade.

"This isn't over, Raphael. It never will be!" She cut his other cheek and threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing while everyone coughed and rubbed their eyes. The room was empty of all the Foot clan.

"Well, I think that went well." Raph smirked, twirling his Sai and shoving them down into his belt.

"Raph!" Mikey and Donnie sang out. Leo stepped up, grinning, then threw his arms around Raph's.

"Group hug!" Mikey jumped on Leo's back, and Raph staggered back with the unexpected weight, Donnie on Raph's other side.

"Get off of me!" He yelled, but the others could see the happiness in his eyes.

"Leo, can we get pizza to celebrate?" Mikey's voice was muffled by Leo's shell. Raph's eyes lit up in agreement.

Donnie and Leo exchanged amused looks. "Are you sure you want pizza, Raph?" Leo said.

Raph frowned. "Why wouldn't I want it?"

Donnie shrugged. "Doesn't it... Look funny to you?" Mikey gasped, suddenly realizing what his brothers were playing at, and cracked up. Poor Raph just stood there.

"Pizza... Looks funny?"

* * *

**Poor Raph. His bros are gonna have a LOT of explaining to do! :) **

**Hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed! I never would have picked this story back up without y'all.**

**R&amp;R, and expect one more chapter being posted soon!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's the epilogue! Hope you guys like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own any TMNT. :/ **

**There's also a pretty long Author's Note of me rambling at the end of this chapter. Fair warning.**

* * *

Splinter could hear his sons bounding through the sewers, behaving quite unlike the ninjas they were supposed to be like, and refrained from smiling. Of course, Michelangelo was the loudest. He stood up and faced the door, preparing to welcome them home.

Three of his sons swaggered in, giggling and laughing amongst themselves. Mikey was explaining something in great detail to Donnie and Leo, with over exaggerated hand motions. Leo was listening politely, and Donnie was in his own little world, nodding occasionally as to pretend to be listening.

"My sons," Splinter interrupted. Leo, Donnie, and Mikey snapped to attention and bowed to their father in respect. "Where is Raphael?"

"Well, you see, Sensei -" Donnie began, but Mikey interrupted him.

"He's gone!" Mikey tried to keep a serious face, but failed, and Donnie smacked the back of his head. "OW! I'm just kidding, Sensei. That hurt, Donnie!"

Donnie and Splinter rolled their eyes.

"Raph, you can come in now!" Leo called out. Splinter looked towards the door just in time to see his normal, 15 year old, red clad son strutting in, smirking and twirling his Sai for the added cool factor.

"Sensei," Raph shoved his way in between Leo and Donnie and bowed.

"Raphael, if you ever disobey orders like that ever again, you will be severely punished." Raph's eyes widened slightly. "But it's good to have you back, my son." Splinter placed a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"It's good to be back, Sensei." Raph grinned.

Splinter nodded. "No training for today," he said. As the turtles cheered, he shook his head lightly and grinned, using the moment to escape back to the dojo.

_Teenagers_.

Mikey threw an arm over Raph's shoulders. "Do you want to invite April over? I'm sure she'd love to see her 'wittle waphie' again."

Raph scowled. "No way! I ain't getting pinched and squeezed and hugged any more!" He pushed Mikey away. "No!"

"Too late. She's already on her way." Leo grinned as Raph's scowl deepened. "And she's bringing pizza!" Mikey cheered and grabbed Leo's arm.

"Let's go wait on her!" He dragged Leo through the lair entrance, leaving a scowling Raph and a tense Donnie alone.

"Listen, man." Raph muttered. "I don't know exactly how to say this, but, uh, I'm sorry about the whole April thing?" He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Leo put me up to it, I swear."

Donnie laughed awkwardly. "It's okay. Hey, does my hair look okay? I didn't know April was coming over today."

Raph squinted at his brother. "We don't have hair, shell-fer-brains."

"Right."

The sound of footsteps running down the sewers echoed throughout the lair, and Raph sighed.

"Crap." Raph met Donnie's gaze with wide eyes, and Donnie pushed him towards the door to hide behind. It was just in time, too, because just then the other brothers walked in with April.

"Oh Raphie!" April cooed, completely bypassing Donnie's outstretched arms. "Where are youuu?" Raph groaned inwardly and shifted; having a shell really was a pain in impromptu hiding spots.

Leo noticed the door creak slightly and tiptoed over to investigate. He snickered at the sight of his hotheaded little brother hiding from a girl. Raph's eyes flashed dangerously, begging Leo not to reveal him.

Leo narrowed his eyes, a dark grin on his face. "Yeah, come on, 'Raphie,'" he whispered. Raph gave Leo his best stink eye, and Leo grabbed his arm and pulled him out.

April was there in a flash, but all her excitement washed away at seeing Raph was himself again. Nonetheless, she was happy he was okay. "Oh... You're /normal/ now."

"Thanks, Ape. Glad to see you care." He rolled his eyes.

She ignored him. "When did you become normal again?"

"Earlier today. The nerd made an antidote, thank God."

April sniggered. "I thought you were a cute and interesting turtle tot." Raph scowled. "And so tiny!" His scowl deepened.

"Hey, Donnie," Leo interrupted suddenly, a curious expression on his face. "Exactly how much antidote did you make?"

Donnie frowned, looking confused. "A lot, I guess. Why?"

"Do you have any more of the kidooze?" Leo asked. Donnie nodded again, his purple mask creased right over his beak.

Leo's eyes lit up. "Do you think I can be a kid next?"

Donnie's, Raph's, and Mikey's faces all paled.

"NO!"

* * *

**AND IT'S OVER! Wow, I'm super proud of myself. I actually finished another story! I'm a little sad it's finally completed, but not as sad as I was with Personality Probs!**

**Thanks to everyone who's encouraged me by favoriting, following, and reviewing. You guys rock! Hopefully you guys will see me with more stories again soon; after posting this and reading a few more recent fanfics, I've now got half a foot into the fandom again. I do need help though; if anyone has a TMNT blog on Tumblr, let me know so I can follow you! **

**Devious Leo gives me life, btws. If you can't tell by this epilogue.**

**Also, I'm still crying over the fact that in the 2k7 movie, the turtles are supposed to be 17-18. My poor babies.**

**If anyone is also curious, I officially finished this story on March 30th, 2013. And I officially finished typing it up and posting it on July 31st, 2015. That time difference tho.**

**I'll stop rambling now, LOL. Thanks again, everyone!**


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